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relation between thickness of reed and tone

Author: Nakata
Date: 1999-09-26 23:47

Hi.... I have a question regard the effect of the
strength of reed on the tone quality. By conventional
knowledge, we all know thinner reed need a more open
mouthpiece and have a lighter and brighter sound.
However is it possible to use a thin reed like V-12#3
to produce the same rich, deep and full sound when
I use #3.5? what is the trick there?

thank you

Nakata

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RE: relation between thickness of reed and tone

Author: Hiroshi
Date: 1999-09-28 05:29

Since Vandoren's heel is specified as 3.19mm regardless of their hardness indicators, V12-3.5 is thicker at the resistance point(about a few mm from the tip) than that of V12-3.

Moreover I suspect generally present reeds have thicker tips than in the past perhaps for the processing method changes from handcraft to mass-production machining. This makes the taper from the heart down to the tip,which I understand makes the tone quality,smaller than the past.

So,it may be good to make the tip of V12 3 reed tip slightly thinner such as from (maybe)12/100 mm to 7/100 mm by reed rush,emmery paper,or sand-paper.

Moreover,keeping an open box of V12s at a dry place for at least 3 months(i.e. aging) before breaking-in them might give more stable reed conditions than new ones. I am now experimenting this myself. First result seems convince me about this.

p.s. There is a small machine to adjust new reeds called such as ReedPro. It, not a mass-adjustment machine, may do something. But what it really does is somewhat a black box. It can be read at the Archive.

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