 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: potatohead
Date: 2003-11-15 16:06
Yesterday, I left my clarinet case in my band locker (as I always do). When I got back to the band room, I discover that someone had broken into my clarinet case, or maybe it unlocked itself. Anyways, my reeds were scattered out of my case and by the time I got to the band room, were trampled by everyone else. They were all the reeds i had broken in, about six or seven reeds. Bad news is, I have all county tryouts in five days! I don't know what to do! Does anyone have any ideas for breaking in reeds... hopefully rather quickly? I know this is not exactly the best situation to be in, but I need all the help I can get.
Thanks,
Maria
Post Edited (2003-11-15 16:12)
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Author: Ed
Date: 2003-11-15 17:21
I would start a new box, wet them and try them all. Find the few most playable ones. Each day play them a bit, increasing the time played over the next few days. When done, dry them and rub the vamp and polish the back on heavy paper. Within a few days you should find that a few will come around. Do whatever adjusting you normally do after a few days. Good luck and let us know how it turned out.
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Author: potatohead
Date: 2003-11-15 18:04
Okay, thank you so much! I'll start that today and hopefully a good reed will come out of my box of Vandorens. But then again, for me, Vandorens haven't exactly been reliable...
-Maria
P.S. How much should I play on them to start out?
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Author: Jerry McD.
Date: 2003-11-15 19:29
I would add to the what Ed said in that if you start today you can break in an entire box. My suggestions would be to break in all 10 reeds at the same time. Play all 10 for only 2 or 3 minutes and increase this by a minute or two each time you play them. The key is to let them dry completely between playing. Normally if you only play them once a day it would take an entire week to break in, adjust, and stabilize reeds. You can do it a little faster if you give them 2 playings a day, but the key is that they absolutely must dry between playings....so if you could give the 12 hours between it can work. I don't make any adjustments to reeds until I feel they are fairly stable, because I believe I will just be making more adjustments later after the have changed again. After they are relatively stable (5 or 6 playings, maybe three days at 2x a day) you can make adjustments and you can really find out how many good reeds are in the box. Again, the key is to let them dry completely, and to not play them too long.
Day 1: 3 minutes a.m. 4 minutes p.m.
Day 2: 5 minutes a.m. 6 minutes p.m.
Day 3: 7 minutes a.m. 8 minutes p.m.
Day 4: 9 minutes a.m. 10 minutes p.m.....now begin making adjustments
Good luck!
Jerry McD.
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Author: potatohead
Date: 2003-11-15 22:10
Thanks Ed, Jerry. I'll try that and see if I can get a reed broken in by Wed. I hope my audition goes well too...
-Maria
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Author: Ed
Date: 2003-11-16 01:30
I agree short playing time at first, definitely no more than 5 minutes each time. I also agree with going through the whole box, but after the first couple of shots I wouldn't fuss with those that seem hopeless and focus on those that seem that they will be the best bet.
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Author: potatohead
Date: 2003-11-17 01:31
Whew... end of day 2. It really IS a painstaking process; breaking in reeds. It takes me about an hour and a half to work every reed in the box and make sure to get out all the moisture I can. By the time I'm done with that, I can't really work on my A.C. piece nor my scales! I guess I should start playing both those while I'm working my reeds. My piece is pretty staccato so I think I'll hold off on that for a while.
Cheers,
Maria
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2003-11-17 03:48
Um . . . I think you may want to keep that clarinet somewhere else from this point on.
US Army Japan Band
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