 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Campana
Date: 2012-02-19 12:49
I am a beginner who lives in the "sticks" with no access to a music teacher. I have no option but to teach myself, which is fine as, due to my age, can have no other ambitions than personal satisfaction. Mostly I have found huge amounts of help from books, You Tube and the Internet. Except for reeds!.
These are some of the things I have read...
1) A learned treatise which states out of every packet of 10 reeds, most will be useless and unplayable, chuck them away. The remaining 2 or 3 still aren't any good until they have been worked on with a variety of tools.
2) Put the reed in your mouth for the length of time it takes to assemble the clarinet.
3) Don't put the reed in your mouth to wet it, use clean water.
4) Immerse the whole reed.
5)Don't immerse the whole reed, only the thin end.
6) Soak a new reed...Overnight...30 minutes...1 minute.
What I would like to know, is it a reasonable expectation for a beginner to buy a pack of 10 Rico reeds and use them all, how long to soak brand new ones, how long to soak a previously used one prior to playing and can reeds get waterlogged during playing and give deteriorating results.
I use a 1982 B&H wooden with a B40 mouthpiece and equally happy with a 2 or 2.1/2 reed.
Many thanks to anybody that answers.
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Author: rtmyth
Date: 2012-02-19 17:41
Read, pun intended, "Romancing the Reed", an article in The Clarinet magazine about 20 years ago. Also Ridenour's book on the clarinet, with lots of tips about reeds and much else. Try some synthetic reeds too.
richard smith
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Author: kdk
Date: 2012-02-19 17:54
You mostly get that "2 usable reeds out of a box" syndrome when you're playing on a reed strength that's at the top of the comfort zone for your mouthpiece and instrument. The reason is that the best reeds may be your most comfortable strength, but any imbalance or inconsistency of cut that adds resistance of any kind will take the reed out of your comfort zone. Many experienced clarinetists will adjust the ones that can be adjusted successfully and chuck the others (or, like me, put all but the most impossible ones in a discard box in case they play better on some future mouthpiece). Less experienced players, rather than spending (sometimes wasting) so much time in reed adjustment, are usually better off and have more fun playing more and fussing over reeds less, especially in the absence of a teacher.
If the strength you're using gives you good consistency, that's a value point. If you're getting only a couple of playable reeds from a box, moving down a 1/2 strength in the same brand and model may improve things for you, so long as the result doesn't also include a tone you can't stand, flat high notes, a buzzy chalumeau register or problems with the reed closing off under normal embouchure pressure. There's no badge of honor or accomplishment in a higher strength number on your reeds.
As to wetting, breaking in, etc., there are as many opinions among accomplished players as there apples in an orchard at harvest time. The one that you mention that I don't think anyone would suggest is soaking a reed overnight, or even as long as 30 minutes. One method you left out (I don't recommend it, but some very well-respected clarinetists do) is putting only the butt end of the reed in water and letting the moisture wick up through the reed. I personally dip reeds tip first into water for a few seconds and then leave them with water still on them *flat side up* on a surface until the tip edge of the reed is straight (you can speed this up by massaging the tip against a flat surface). Older reeds take longer. Brand new reeds may only need a few seconds.
Most break-in processes are meant to accomplish two things - (a) get the reed to stabilize so that it lasts as long as possible and (b) prevent the reed from warping (along its length - different from the wrinkling in the tip when the reed is first wet). Optimal life span for your reeds may not be the value it is for players in more critical playing environments. That's up to you. My own personal way to avoid warped reeds has been nearly 100% effective for me and has little to nothing to do with any break-in process I've tried. I simply never ever put a wet or damp reed flat side down on any surface. My reed cases hold the reed on a side edge and I always let reeds that I'm processing dry flat side up. Any other process you've read about is certainly worth trying, though - there's probably nothing inherently wrong with anything that works successfully for someone else, and then you'll choose whatever way seems to work best.
Karl
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Author: mvjohnso
Date: 2012-02-19 18:08
Don't how much this will help but here's what I can tell you:
1. in my experience is for the most part correct, however there are steps that one can take to improve your odds. Mainly, buying better reeds. As I've been informed the 2-3 reed rule is generally the standard for about how many reeds you'll get out of a pack of blue box Vandorens, but if one were to use Vandoren V12's your odds tend to improve to 4-5. Now if you're still using common rico's you really ought to switch, better reeds really are worth it. Most will tell you to solely buy Vandorens, but I however am not in that school. I personally like double cut rather than french cut reeds (now don't ask me the specifics as I misspoke about it last time I posted about the difference, but what I can tell you is that the method of cutting leaves a more pronounced heart in the middle of the reed and the response and sound is slightly changed). I use Rico Grand Master Select Evolution (which despite the pompous name tend to run cheaper than Vandoren) and get 6-7 usable reeds per pack and am always happy. As another note I'd recommend buying reeds online the prices are MUCH better.
As far as points 2-6 are concerned, I have found that those factors are way too much to worry about. And, that does not even address the issues of warping from the drying out of reeds while you aren't playing. So, a few year back I switched to the reed vitalizer system from Rico (I use the 90% one) and never looked back. All you have to do is get the magical humidipack (which are pretty cheap) and a waterproof container (which they will charge a bit too much for so I'd just go with the humidity packs and get your own container). And then add your reeds, and you really don't have to soak ever again and your reeds wont warp.
-Matt
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Author: Campana
Date: 2012-02-19 18:50
Thanks everybody for your input. As a beginner I haven't yet achieved consistency. So, on days when practice isn't going so good, it's much harder for me to know if the fault is mine or the reed isn't up to the mark.
I will start using a better class of reed though and then I'll know there's only myself to blame.
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Author: BertC
Date: 2012-02-19 18:54
I very much agree with Johnso. Get yourself a Rico 8-reed case with vitaliser packs; wipe your reads as dry as you can after each session and place them in the case; and 'rotate' the reeds - i.e. use the next one from the case for each session so each gets used about one eighth of the time. Remember to replace the vitaliser pack every month or so. I aways use Vandoren because their sealed packaging seems to make for better humidity condition from the word go. I find I can get along happily with either 2 1/2s or 2s with my Selmer C* mouthpiece and seldom get totally unuseable ones. As a poverty stricken youth playing jazz I often scraped the back of reeds with a razor blade to thin unplayable ones and make them playable. Sometimes I would even slice off battered tips from used ones and scrape their backs to make even them playable again. Of course you couldn't get away with this kind of thing playing chamber music but trying to make like Sidney Bechet - no problem.
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Author: kdk
Date: 2012-02-19 19:16
putz wrote:
> I will start using a better class of reed though and then I'll
> know there's only myself to blame.
No, better reeds aren't a guarantee, either. The biggest reason for finding some way of getting lessons, even on a very irregular basis, is the opportunity to have another set of ears besides your own, and hopefully more experienced than you are, to help sort out what's causing what and how to approach fixing it.
Karl
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Author: BertC
Date: 2012-02-19 19:18
I meant to say also that all I do to moisten my reeds is stick them in my mouth while I'm assembling the instrument them draw them out between my compressed lips to remove any excess moisture. In my jazz playing days all the clarinetists I knew did this; I don't recall hearing of anyone who used fresh water. Fresh ale maybe!
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