 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: bethmhil
Date: 2012-12-23 02:44
In a brand new box of reeds of any brand/strength, I always get a couple (or four, in the case of my newest box...) that are "mushy"-- buzzy, airy yet soft, not vibrant, call it what you like. They usually get thrown in the trash, but... it hurts to throw away brand new reeds simply because I can't get them to respond the way I would like.
I've learned to deal with reeds being a little hard, but I've never been able to force my mouth to adjust to a buzzy reed. Any thoughts on how to sand/adjust them?
BMH
Illinois State University, BME and BM Performance
Post Edited (2012-12-23 02:45)
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Author: kdk
Date: 2012-12-23 03:02
I think the way you've been dealing with them is probably as good as any. It depends a lot on what you mean by "airy yet soft, not vibrant,' and you might be able to salvage some of them by balancing them - if, for example, the airy non-vibrancy is caused by a hardness on one side while the other is freer and more vibrant. But you may never get them to respond really well. If the other 6 (or 8 in a good box) are serviceable and respond well, I'd say that's not a bad return.
"You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear."
Karl
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Author: Bennett ★2017
Date: 2012-12-23 03:15
From your description I'm not sure what is going wrong but it sounds as though clipping a tiny bit off the vibrating edge might help. Use a device like these: http://tinyurl.com/bmcg2x4
[ edited - GBK ]
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Author: bethmhil
Date: 2012-12-23 03:16
I've tried very much to balance them, even clip them straight out of the box on occasion. The airiness and extraneous noise does not come from the reed being too hard, because no amount of balancing on the rails fixes it.
BMH
Illinois State University, BME and BM Performance
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2012-12-23 04:05
Unfortunately cane is subject to wide variations in quality and characteristics, even from the major manufacturers. Sometimes bad reeds can be recovered, at least for use as practise reeds. I'd consider 8 out of 10 to be pretty fair.
Tony F.
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2012-12-23 08:41
some cuts of reeds (their fundamental curve) may not work equally well on all cuts of mouthpieces.
Instead of throwing them away, see if they work better with a different mouthpiece. A bit of variation, if only for practicing, cannot hurt.
--
Ben
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Author: ruben
Date: 2012-12-23 10:39
Some of these reeds, I call spongy. Sometimes, I reckon that they haven't sufficiently dried. I have often found this with reeds made from Gonzales cane from Argentina. A year later, these spongy reeds are better.
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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