 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: moose6589
Date: 2003-09-15 10:00
I have just recently gotten into reed adjusting, and I've made some good progress towards improving my reeds. However, I've been trying to thin my Gonzalez FOF 3.75, and it hasn't been working well. When I scrape off some cane and the reed becomes more free-blowing, an increase in brightness is always there. By the time the reed plays at just the resistance, it is often overly bright, and my best reeds(brightness-wise) all have a bit too much resistance. However, the reeds that played with the right resistance out of the box are not bright, so it must be my reed-adjusting skills in question. Currently, when I try to thin the reed, I use sandpaper to lightly thin near the left and right edge, about 2 mm from the edges, all up and down the reed, and I stop scraping about 2 mm from the tip. Is there anything that I'm doing wrong here? Please help.
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Author: Synonymous Botch
Date: 2003-09-15 12:07
The reed works as an element of the mouthpiece.
You may be bringing out some character of the mouthpiece that a heavier reed helped to tame...
*****
Perhaps you may have better luck by thinning the entire reed; sanding the back?
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Author: DavieCane01
Date: 2003-09-15 14:03
Moose,
1) Can we assume that you tried the 3.5's and found them too soft?
2) you waiting until the reed is fully broken in to make your adjustments? They will become more free-blowing on their own after about a week of break-in. Is it possible you're just rushing the process a bit?
3) Try stopping your adjustments 4mm or so below the tip. Also, instead of straight down the sides, try following the angle of the heart and work a bit towards the center instead. Essentially making the frame of a letter "A". Remember, one of the side effects of reed adjusting is an overall change of the proportions of the reed, and the closer you work to the tip and outer edges the more you feel this effect. That's why we don't suggest you sand the backs of these reeds unless they come out of the box warped...which doesn't happen very often. You'll make the tip too thin and then you'll have an un-fixable situation.
4) If you continue to have trouble, please feel free to contact me here in the office and we'll get it figured out together.
-Phil
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2003-09-15 14:30
I routinely "polish" the back of a new reed on very fine "emery" paper, before use, and dont touch the scrape unless it appears to be poorly "balanced" [thick/thin], partic. on bass cl [tenor sax] reeds, usually #2's for a quite "open" mp. If it is still harder than I like, I'll sand the back, [dry] on slightly coarser paper, followed by "polishing". If too soft, I use a reed trimmer. Seems to work for me. We DO have our individual "tricks, don't we?? Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: GBK
Date: 2003-09-15 15:48
Gonzalez reeds are graded in 1/4 sizes to eliminate the need for major carpentry adjustments.
As Phil Shapiro has stated, no adjustments to the reeds until a break in period of a week has elapsed. Then, only make changes to account for individual balancing and response. If after those changes the reeds are still too heavy and blow stiffly, then drop down a 1/4 size in strength.
As a guidline, out of the box the reeds should play either at your desired strength or slightly harder. If the reeds are much too difficult to play, then try a 1/4 size less.
Another tip worth mentioning is that when you ultimately find the strength reed that works consistantly for you, keep on hand a few boxes of reeds 1/4 stength higher and 1/4 strength lower for those days (or weeks) when the temperature and humidity levels play havoc on your normal reeds...GBK
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Author: D Dow
Date: 2003-09-15 16:05
I feel this in one of those individual subjects where alot has to be thought of in relation to how one wants to have the reed work and project.
In spite of all my years at teaching, I suspect too many younger players seek results too quick. As to brightness, I think pitch of your clarinet could be a possible factor.
Of course, darker reeds tend to be somewhat harder, but they should still have the feeling of flexiblility and warmth. My experience is that a slightly harder reed is a bit darker, but this is not always the case.
As to subsequent alteration of cane after the break in period, I do find in some cases my reeds get a bit heavier, and once again they scaped with the reed knife, but in spots where I feel a build up of gunk or whatever.
It is imperative to have a reed that is flexible and allows for a wide dynamic gradiation. Imperceptible elements come in to play often in this realm. These are fatigue, moisture content in the air and even the ligature.
Sometimes a QUITE HARD reed can be made softer by simply lowering the reed down from the tip of the mouthpiece. If this causes no change in the resistance, then one should however proceed to the reed knife. This is more a matter of balancing the rails if they are swollen. As to removal of cane, I know of no two people on earth who achieve the result the same way unless by pure coincidence.
Avrahm Galper of the Toronto Symphony did no manual reed adjustment whatsoever, and he felt it a waste of time. Today, reeds are getting a bit expensive for such frivolity with money. However, there is a lot to be said for a reed that works instantly. These are of course, in the minority.
David Dow
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Author: beejay
Date: 2003-09-15 21:30
If your reed is too hard while you are breaking it in, you can try slipping a folded sheet of cigarette paper underneath the butt end. This should close the tip end slightly and make the reed easier to play. Or you can experiment with moving the reed down slightly on the mouthpiece.
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Author: Synonymous Botch
Date: 2003-09-16 02:12
DLD makes a VERY good point, try moving your reed around on the playing surface, to see if any response changes are evident.
Try the CHEAP and REVERSIBLE stuff first...
Me, I play Rigotti Gold right out of the box.
They don't last very long, but they play without adjustments.
Whittling reeds doesn't get me through any ink on my charts.
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Author: Dan Shusta
Date: 2003-09-16 22:03
Hi Moose, I had to do some investigative reading on this one.
From Ernest Ferron's book entitled: "The Clarinet revealed", ( which I have referred to before on this BB), I found:
On page 58--"A hard reed attempts to dominate the bore."
and
"A soft reed is totally dominated by the instrument."
So it would appear that as you soften the reed, the instrument begins to have more of a dominating affect of the sound.
Also, from page 58: "Timbre" and "sound production" zones must be taken into account when scraping reeds.
From the picture shown on page 56, the sound production zones are the sides of the reed up to what looks like 4mm from the tip.
The "timbre" section is a bit harder to describe. It looks like an elongated oval circle in the center of the reed and is about 2mm from the tip and each side.
(The above dimensions are pure guestimates while looking at the diagram.)
So, with all of the above in mind, it appears that to maintain the "timbre", perhaps only the side "sound production" zones should be adjusted to lower the playing resistance.
I'm certainly no expert here and I hope you found the above useful.
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