 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Ryan
Date: 2003-02-12 19:10
I can only use a reed for about 4 one hour rehearsals or practice sessions. They are Vanduran 3 blue box. To break them in I soak them in warm water for 10 minutes and then smooth out the reeds with my fingers to seal its pores. Could this be causing it? I also don't think I'm ready for 3.5.
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Author: Alex
Date: 2003-02-12 19:58
Do you use the same reed for a long period of time? Try rotating about a dozen reeds, playing one at each practice.
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Author: William
Date: 2003-02-12 20:48
Try the saliva only soak, and then only until the reed is thoroughly moistened. Ten minutes is too long. Play it only for a few moments on first trial--rubbing the vamp before and after. Store it on a flat surface and let it dry for a couple of days before playing it again. Each time, rubbing the vamp before and after the saliva soak--never any water!! I follow this proceedure and my reeds seem to acquire a resilience for longer life.
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Author: Clarence
Date: 2003-02-12 23:36
Ryan,
The warm water for 10 minutes is probably the problem. Try playing on dry reeds for a while.
If a dry reed doesn't play well for me, it goes in the trash.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2003-02-13 00:21
Clarence wrote:
>
> Ryan,
> If a dry reed doesn't play well for me, it goes in the
> trash.
Please send me all your trashed reeds ...
Reeds need to be wet to play right - they are stiffer when wet than when dry. At some point they'll become waterlogged or too soft because they've mechanically deteriorated.
10 minutes in warm water may truly be a problem, though.
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Author: Mitch K.
Date: 2003-02-13 01:05
Also, over the course of wetting and drying, the reeds may be warping. If you're not careful of how you dry/store them, it's quite possible that the table has become convex. Depending on the degree of warpage, you can use a finer grit sandpaper, a bastard file, or white bond paper to smooth it out. I use a high-quality bastard file because it leaves less debris in the pores of the reed.
Best of luck,
Mitch King
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Author: Clarence
Date: 2003-02-13 02:07
Mark,
I'm just one of those people who say the dry reeds are just fine. I always test a dry reed by playing a chromatic scale from the lowest note on the clarinet to the G above the staff and back down to the lowest as fast as I can. You can tell alot about a reed by doing this. The altissimo range performance is what I look for most in older reeds. The change in stiffness from dry to wet is something I just adjust to.
Clarence (who says don't give me a wet reed, a dry one is just fine)
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Author: Mark Pinner
Date: 2003-02-13 04:49
10 minutes soaking is way too much. Reed manufacturers recommend soaking for about 1 minute and this is probably only to wash off the preservative. Try #3 reeds instead of 3 1/2 and wet them by mouth. There is a bit of an old wives tale spread amongst sax players. If you get a reed a half or whole strength harder than is comfortable and soak it in hot water for ten minutes it will soften and play more comfortably. Because it is a thicker reed it last longer than a soft reed. Utter rubbish, the hard reed will only work at all when it is waterlogged. A waterlogged reed produces less volume, gives less flexibility and stuffs your tone completely.
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