 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Bill
Date: 2006-11-13 19:41
I'm shy about posting here because I have no credentials as a clarinetist beyond my enthusiasm. But what's wonderful about this forum is the opportunity to share.
Lately I've been thinking about and experimenting a great deal with the interaction between the reed, mouthpiece, and clarinet. Two things in my reading keep coming to mind:
1. Stories about Bonade and his facility with reed rush, turning students' reeds, however bad, into "perfect" ones; and
2. Pamela Weston's interview with Harold Wright, in which she said Wright sanded his reeds extensively "beginning at the top and working down."
Employing a single mouthpiece, I have been working hard adjusting reeds, testing different types of resistance (spring) and tone. I note that when beginning work, I hear the reed. I'm experiencing the reed itself. I listen for buzziness at the tip, lack of clarity in the fundamental notes ... trying to understand this feedback and diagnose changes that need to be made.
Using reed rush, there's a moment when the reed reaches an excellent equilibrium with the mouthpiece, and suddenly I'm playing the clarinet ... the reed is communicating the efforts of my embouchure perfectly, engaging the clarinet to produce a sound that seems to run the entire length of the scale as well as the instrument itself ... a good balance of edge and power. The reed becomes anonymous, only a link in a long chain.
As a private player, I don't need to worry about how an audience will experience the set-up I have achieved. And I often wonder how professionals cope with the need to arrive at a reed configuration that pleases an audience, a sound that really carries.
Bill.
Bill Fogle
Ellsworth, Maine
(formerly Washington, DC)
Post Edited (2006-11-13 19:49)
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Author: Sylvain
Date: 2006-11-13 20:18
Bill, I share your experience. I have been playing the clarinet for over 20 years and only discovered reed adjustment late in my learning and was never satisfied with the lessons and time spent trying to adjust reeds. I tried to find my way around it by blaming the mouthpiece, the ligature, the barrel, the clarinet, etc... Needless to say that it was all for nothing, except for the fact that I got to learn a little bit about equipment and spent a lot of money.
I very recently purchased the ATG instruction video and tools from Tom Ridenour and although I knew most of what he was telling about reeds, I found his adjusting technique quite effective and most importantly easy to learn and quick to perform. Of course, I am not entirely satisfied by it, but I can now get most of my reeds up to 90% comfort and that is much better than it's ever been.
I was always of the idea that no oboe player could be a good player if he/she wasn't a good reed maker. For some reason, my little brain did not make the connection that it might also be true of clarinet players. So there it is, learn about reeds, learn to adjust them (or better make them) and playing will become much more gratifying.
--
Sylvain Bouix <sbouix@gmail.com>
Post Edited (2006-11-13 23:10)
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Author: Bassie
Date: 2006-11-14 11:57
That's exactly how I feel... the reed sits between the player and the instrument. Which is why you take your best reed and mouthpiece when you're trying clarinets. Which is why beginners are stuck in a catch-22: you can't play the clarinet till you've got the reed right, and how can you do that if you can't play the clarinet?
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