 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: RobertP
Date: 2002-09-28 11:11
Which book is the best guide to reed-making and adjusting? Or am I nuts to even try??!
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Author: JMcAulay
Date: 2002-09-28 15:22
And now I repeat my mantra: "Pino book, Pino book, Pino book...."
David Pino's book, *The Clarinet and Clarinet Playing* is the best bargain around. Although I disagree with some of Pino's conclusions and terminologies (so what?), this book provides a vast amount of good information for US$9.95 (Dover edition, softcover). It does include a comprehensive section on making your own reeds. Pino rather convincingly advises that this is less time-consuming in the long run than buying ready-made reeds and modifying tham to suit yourself. I ordered the book from Van Cott Clarinet Books and More, one of this Board's sponsors. Van Cott's service was excellent, and shipment was prompt. Click on the "Sponsored By" area at the top of this page for contact information.
Regards,
John
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Author: William
Date: 2002-09-28 16:16
But if you are a klutz with a knife--like I am--then the answers to the following are these: Reed making, use a ReeDual; Reed profiling, use a Reed Wizard. I tried making reeds from blanks but produced housing frame shims instead. So, I choose to start with commercially finished reeds (V12s) one strength too stiff (#4), and work them down via balancing with my reed knife or profiling with my Reed Wizard. Better than spending hours working on a reed blank and producing a door stop instead.
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Author: tom piercy
Date: 2002-09-28 20:40
The Kalmen Opperman book is great if you want to start from tubes and go to a finished product. Many other subjects of concern to reed makers are included in the book.
Handbook for Making and Adjusting Single Reeds-Revised Edition by Kalmen Opperman, M. Baron Company, Inc., 44 pages.
It has been reissued after having been out of print for many years.
Tom Piercy
thomaspiercy.com
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Author: nzdonald
Date: 2002-09-28 22:35
William- the odd thing about your posting (well, not just you- i've heard lots of people say this before so don't get personally offended, right?) is this.....
the EASY part of reed making is seasoning blanks etc, then getting them to a state where they are "unfinished reeds" (say like the Zonda "ready to finish"- you can get a sound out of them but they are way way too hard to properly "play")....
the HARD part is getting from there to a finished reed that sounds ok, and from there to a reed that sounds great....
so what i don't understand is this- you are saying you don't want to do the easy bit, but you'll pay more for a "finished reed" and then do the hard part of the job anyway.
hmmmmmmm
i think that what i've never seen written down (there are books etc that i haven't seen, so maybe it is out there somewhere) is a really good explanation/picture etc of "reed architecture (sp? that really looks wrong). There seem to be many two dimensional pictures that are helpful but at the same time suggest things that are not helpful (for example- the "tip region" of the reed, which is defined slightly differently in every source anyway, is suposed to slope away to the end of the reed, but in two dimensional pictures a novice could easily infer that it was suposed to be flat- the the "heart of the reed" sticking up like a hill in the middle....)
a reedmaking book/article illustrated with those neat 3D pictures of reeds that we can do in these modern times, now that would be great.
must rush
have fun all
donald
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Author: diz
Date: 2002-09-30 00:25
Making a reed - ugh - I'd rather catologue dung beetles.
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Author: Vic
Date: 2002-09-30 14:27
I agree with Diz - waaaaay too much trouble. I'd rather try to bikini wax a grizzly bear
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2002-09-30 14:48
I took reedmaking lessons from Kalmen Opperman. His book lays out the basics, but it takes a month or two before you learn to do it well enough to make usable reeds reliably, and several mor months before you can do it in less than 1/2 hour per reed. (Kal can make one in about 1-1/2 minutes.)
I occasionally make reeds from blanks. (Making blanks from tubes is way too much trouble.) However, several brands (Vandoren Black Master, Daniels, Gonzalez)are made of good enough cane that I mostly get them (a strength or two too hard) and season them, flatten the bottom and balance them to my liking.
In making your own, the important thing that's not obvious from any of the books is that the taper along the sides has to be absolutely even and go as far toward the tip as possible. It's very easy to scoop out the sides, which ruins the reed.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Robert
Date: 2002-10-01 19:28
Thanks for all your comments. And thanks Ken for the great advice.
By the way, what is "seasoning" a reed?
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2002-10-01 21:29
Robert -
"Seasoning" -- at least for me -- means soaking and drying a reed repeatedly until it stops warping. Then, when I flatten the bottom, it stays flat. Some people think it starts the break-in process, but I'm not so sure.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Lindsey
Date: 2002-10-02 02:57
peter hadcock's, the working clarinetist, great book. I think t has a great section on making reeds and a lot of other useful info. It's worth the investment if not for the information for the music at the front of the book.
good luck
lindsey
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