 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: Joseph LeBlanc
Date: 2009-02-13 19:15
I've been working on a online reed making guide for a while and have just put it up online. I hope it will serve a a starting point for many players to demystify the process and be a central location with links to many of the different tools and types of cane, which can be difficult to tract down.
I will try to update it on a regular basis as I try more tools and learn new techniques. I'll also be adding more pictures and possibly video in the future. If anything is unclear or if you have any questions you can ask me here or leave a comment on the site.
http://knol.google.com/k/joseph-leblanc/clarinet-reed-making/2umclypivy7kp/2#
(was unable to make this link active.....please cut and paste)
Thanks,
Joe LeBlanc
Post Edited (2009-02-18 03:22)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: NBeaty
Date: 2009-02-13 23:52
Hey Joe,
Thanks for posting this website. I found it very simple, clear, and educational!
I've been researching a bit into reed making recently, and your post may have been the straw that broke the camel's back of me restraining myself from buying new toys.
Is this really a task that you can teach yourself in a reasonable amount of time? I feel that if I buy the tools, It may be still quite a daunting task to actually produce usable reeds.
Thanks,
Nathan
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Joseph LeBlanc
Date: 2009-02-14 01:53
With the right tools and attention to detail, yes anyone can do it.
What takes people some time to understand is, how much different types of cane can vary. Try as many as you can, ask for samples when you order(some places do that, or get a small batch).
Good luck!
-Joe
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Sylvain
Date: 2009-02-16 18:41
Thanks Joe, it is one of the most comprehensive guide I have seen in a while.
Out of curiosity, how much time do you spend to make a reed?
This has been the main road block for me. I just can't seem to find the time
--
Sylvain Bouix <sbouix@gmail.com>
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: johng ★2017
Date: 2009-02-17 20:54
Thanks for putting the information on the web. It looks to be a quite complete discussion. One suggestion would be to have more pictures showing the process a bit more.
John Gibson, Founder of JB Linear Music, www.music4woodwinds.com
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Joseph LeBlanc
Date: 2009-02-18 03:22
Thanks for the comments.
Yes, I hope to put up more detailed pictures in the near future. I also want to expand upon the profiling section among other things.
It takes me about 8-9 minutes per reed start to finish. Though I usually work in an assembly line fashion, doing each step about 20-30 times until I have a large reserve of blanks. Then I profile(last step which takes about 2 minutes) two or three reeds a day for the next week or so and that leaves me with enough good reeds to last well over a month.
Also, I'm not broke thankfully. I don't own all of the tools listed but have tried most of them. My current set of tools is listed at the bottom of the guide.
-Joe
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Old Geezer
Date: 2009-02-19 15:15
If I thought I could get some cane superior to anything being used, I would certainly make my own reeds. But I don't think that's possilble to find such superior cane in small amounts.
Vandoren used to sell it's traditional reeds with "Select" cane for a premion price, but they've discontinued them for some reason. The cane was clearly better. They were really good...I wish they'd make some V12s with a "Select" cane!
Clarinet Redux
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: libera_clarinet
Date: 2009-03-02 23:47
Hi Joe,
To help your links out, Gonzalez cane can be purchased through Muncy Winds, here in NC. The website is:
http://www.muncywinds.com
Search for 'tube cane' or 'reed blanks.'
As for Davie, I believe they're out of business. And Glotin...can't help you there (though I wish I could)...sorry!
Hope that helps,
-- Matt
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Caroline Smale
Date: 2009-03-03 19:40
I remember buying some "select" reeds from Vandoren in Paris some 25 or more years ago. As I recall they weren't made from "select" cane but rather were hand selected reeds packaged at a premium price (in practise probably amounted to the same thing).
Again if my memory recall is correct when I got them home the results on average were no different than from the "normal" reeds.
I also tried testing reeds before purchase in the back room at Rue Lepic using a borrowed clarinet and mouthpiece!! But the room was so reverberant and full of young conservatoire students all doing the same thing that result was again predictably average.
I understand that now the "suck 'em and try 'em" era has ended that all first study clarinet students at the Paris Conservatoire are given 4 boxes of reeds each month by VanD - certainly one way of trying to get future customer loyalty....
.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: J. J.
Date: 2009-03-03 23:03
Norman is right. The Vandoren Select reeds had more to do with supposedly being hand-selected. It had nothing to do with the cane and I felt they were only marginally better at best.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Joseph LeBlanc
Date: 2009-03-06 13:37
I've been getting a number of requests for Greg James' contact info, rather than post it here(just to be on the safe side), shoot me an email and I'll get it to you.
-Joe
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: AaronClarinet
Date: 2009-04-24 14:21
Thanks for your excellent and thoughtful article. I would be interested to know what other manual reed makers have to say about particular profilers, especially the Uhl RPM 68. I have an older, reconditioned Reedual and find the copy accuracy disappointing. Even left-right symmetry often fails to match a carefully crafted model reed.
Aaron's Clarinet Studio
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
