 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Amy
Date: 2004-07-04 21:06
I'm a little confused about finding 'good' reeds. I understand that the reed has to sound how I want it to, but if I hear the clarinet differently to how others hear it, then how do I know? Also, do reeds change over time? For instance, I played a new reed earlier today and it squeaked like hell. If I play it tomorrow, will it have changed maybe? And can the same happen to good reeds ie can they turn bad?
Any input would be appreciated. Thanks.
Amy
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Author: Synonymous Botch
Date: 2004-07-04 21:22
There are some extensive earlier posts involving breaking in reeds.
I follow a pattern similar to that explained by Dave Spiegelthal.
With natural cane, I'm looking for immediate response on all notes at all dynamic levels. I'm also looking for a piece of cane that lasts for 2+ hours on the bandstand without a sense that it has collapsed.
Frequently I play a Legere synthetic that is nearly as good as my Rigottis and has no sensitivity to humidity changes.
It comes down to sound pressure at all volumes, for me.
Getting the right strength and 'cut' of reed that follows your mouthpiece curve seems to be the hardest part. You really must start with a mouthpiece that is properly balanced, otherwise the struggle never ends!
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Author: hans
Date: 2004-07-04 23:30
Amy,
The following might help a little for some of your questions, but exceptions are very common.
The theoretical ideal:
Colour - should be golden yellow, may have brown flecks. Avoid greenish, greenish-white, or grey cane. When the heel end is wet, there should be an orange or light brown line just under the bark or skin. The line should not be green or yellow and it should not be missing. The bark or skin should be shiny.
Texture - fibers should be consistently straight and fine to the tip of the reed.
Arch - the arch of the bark caused by the natural curve of the cane should be high, indicating that the reed was cut from cane of small diameter, which will tend to have a good distribution of hard fibres and soft cells.
Maturity - the golden yellow colour indicates maturity, as does a sweet taste and a hard bark. Immature bark can be scored with a thumb nail.
When held up to a strong light, the shadows in a well-made reed will look like approximately a 60 degree "V" pointing to, but not quite reaching, the tip.
If the flat side is rough or uneven, it should be smoothed by drawing it lightly over fine sandpaper in the direction of the grain.
Reeds which do not play well may be too soft, too stiff, squeaky, or no good. Discard bad reeds.
• A soft reed may be stiffened by trimming it at its tip as long as it still fits the tip of the mouthpiece. In an emergency a large coin may be used to protect the main part of the reed while singeing the edge with a match.
• A stiff reed may be softened by drawing it heel first across fine sandpaper in the direction of the grain, or by scraping or sanding the top from the heel towards the tip.
• A reed may squeak because it is too thin at the center of the tip or because it is stiffer on one side than the other.
• A reed that plays high notes well but is stuffy in the low registers should have the sides - not the tip, heart, or corners - thinned.
• A reed that plays low notes well but not the high notes is too thick at the tip and the corners - thin the corners.
Some techniques for improving reed service life and performance:
burnishing - place the flat side on a piece of glass and rub the vamp with a smooth rounded object from the thick end toward the tip. If blowing into the heel end produces bubbles in the vamp, the pores have not been closed and more burnishing is needed.
wetting and massaging - soak the tip in water for 3 minutes, then lay the reed on glass, flat side down. Then rub the vamp for a minute or two toward the tip with a moistened digit. The flat side should be rubbed also, but must be supported. After massaging, use a rubber band to hold the reed on a piece of glass for a day. Repeat the procedure for 3 or 4 days.
breaking in - moisten, then play a new reed for only ten minutes at a time before re-moistening it.
Regards,
Hans
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Author: OpusII
Date: 2004-07-05 08:56
Hans,
Quote:
Colour - should be golden yellow, may have brown flecks. Avoid greenish, greenish-white, or grey cane. When the heel end is wet, there should be an orange or light brown line just under the bark or skin. The line should not be green or yellow and it should not be missing. The bark or skin should be shiny.
For your information: It really doesn't matter if the colour of the reed is green, it just indicates that the reed had less sunshine. But the quality of the reed will be exactly the same.
Eddy
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Author: OpusII
Date: 2004-07-05 09:08
Amy,
Clarinet reeds will warp in the beginning, you can identify this by looking at the back of the reed. If the reed doesn't perform the second day as it did the first day, than the back is most probably wrapped. You can correct this by flatten it with a Vandoren reed resurfacer.
There are many ways to treed a reed, just find that manner that works for you.... you can search the board for different ways.
Eddy
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Author: hans
Date: 2004-07-05 12:33
Re: "It really doesn't matter if the colour of the reed is green, it just indicates that the reed had less sunshine. But the quality of the reed will be exactly the same." .........the advice to avoid green reeds was given in my university woodwinds text and it still makes sense to me.
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Author: OpusII
Date: 2004-07-05 13:00
Re:Re: "It really doesn't matter if the colour of the reed is green, it just indicates that the reed had less sunshine. But the quality of the reed will be exactly the same." .........the advice to avoid green reeds was given in my university woodwinds text and it still makes sense to me.
I don't say that it doesn't make sense to you This advice was given by Eddy Vanoosthuysen and Vandoren. I only explain why they are green...but still I think that everybody has to try everything to find out what’s the best for them.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2004-07-05 13:20
hans wrote:
> the
> advice to avoid green reeds was given in my university
> woodwinds text and it still makes sense to me.
But too many counter-examples abound. Just try all the reeds; my favorite for some time was a reeds cut off-center. Looked like it should have been an obvious discard, but for some unknown reason became one of the best reeds I every used, and made it through 2 recitals.
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Author: BobD
Date: 2004-07-05 13:38
Amy, it sounds like you are more or less a beginner. After you have looked at and played hundreds of reeds you may have a better familiarity with them. Every experienced player probably has his own perceptions about what a good reed looks like. Some of us used to hold each one up to the light and look for a "flame" pattern in the center of the top half. Reeds are sort of like oranges, you never know what was a good one until after you eat it.
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Author: hans
Date: 2004-07-05 15:15
As I said above, exceptions to the theoretical ideal are very common.
IMO BobD's "Reeds are sort of like oranges, you never know what was a good one until after you eat it." captures the essence of the problem.
Hans (who plays every reed in the box)
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Author: Amy
Date: 2004-07-05 17:41
More than a beginner to be honest, I've been playing just under six years! I've just never really thought about reeds that much (don't shoot me!). I really am totally and utterly clueless though aren't I? lol! I used to be like Hans, just playing all of the reeds, with a vague idea of when a reed was totally and utterly unplayable, but I've been wondering about it more lately, even trying a couple of different brands. How adventurous am I!?
Thankyou all for taking the time to post your suggestions. More posts will definitely be appreciated as I really do need as much as much help as I can get!
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Author: hans
Date: 2004-07-05 19:15
Amy,
I didn't mean to give the impression that I am "just playing all of the reeds, with a vague idea of when a reed was totally and utterly unplayable".
After 45 years of playing clarinet and sax, I have more than a vague idea but can usually get at least some use out of every reed.
Since you are looking for information to help you become a better player, I would certainly not describe you as "clueless" .
Regards,
Hans
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Author: Clarinetist
Date: 2004-07-05 19:53
I´m (more or less) a beginner also and have been playing for just about as long as you have. Previously, I wasn´t so keen about reeds, but lately I have bought some fancy reed adjustment stuff. I keep thinking that I was previously concentrating more about playing itself, rather than sitting long hours grinding some side of a reed. In fact, I have read that clarinetists are using 4-6 hours time weekly, for just preparing reeds. You could be a much better player if you´d use that time for practicing some scales.
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Author: Rachel
Date: 2004-07-06 09:21
BobD- >>reeds are sort of like oranges, you can't tell if it's a good one until you eat it.
That approach doesn't work for me. I end up with no reeds and all these little bits of cane stuck in my teeth.
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Author: Liquorice
Date: 2004-07-06 11:45
"I end up with no reeds and all these little bits of cane stuck in my teeth."
HA HA HA HA HA!!! Thanks for that Rachel! :-)
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Author: BobD
Date: 2004-07-06 13:58
Yes,Rachel, that's true....but also you can then put the pieces in your orange crate for a nice clarinet smell.
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Author: LostJitterBugg
Date: 2004-07-09 20:15
when i was younger my band director would give us what HE thought we should have and for the longest time all the school had was Rico Royal and he would give them in the size he please which for me was about a 3 and if he didn't have a 3 then lower and i felt so held back by them Rico's and i thought they made me sound so poppy so I went to the music store and bought a couple other brands in other sizes and tested them out and in the end my band director changed his reeds to vandoren and i changed mine to Mitchell Lurie size 4 so just keep an open mind about it and whatever sounds best to you is best for you no one can make the decision for you so don't let them hold you back by doing that...and no offense to my old band director he was a baritone player so what's he sopoes to know about reeds...he is a great man too...he took our band further then most HS bands can even think about going...and me...he helped me even when he didnt know it while i was practicing alone...I will never forget him and I plan to visit sometime too...the show this year for marching band seems so awesome
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