 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Llewsrac
Date: 2005-05-02 03:03
Take a new reed, soak the whole reed in your mouth. Place a small amount of spit on the cut surface of the reed. Blow air strongly through the reeds butt until the spit bubbles for ten seconds. Repeat process three times. Hold butt of reed with right hand thumb and forefinger. Using the thumb and forefinger of the left hand pull reed between thumb and forefinger pressing down firmly on the reed. Play reed as normal. When finished playing repeat process one last time. Then place reed on glass to dry. Repeat this process everytime you use this reed until the day when the reed will no longer bubble. At this point the reed is sealed.
This method alines the fibers of the reed in a straight line. Allowing for a more even vibration. Once the reed is sealed the fibers of the cane is locked into a more even and straight alinement side to side, tip to butt. This reed will now respond with great ease, and great tone.
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Author: poopsie
Date: 2005-05-02 03:10
that's kinda cool. I'll have to try it out to see if it works. I'll just have to make sure no one sees me blowing bubbles with my reeds (my family already thinks i'm wierd enough. ![[happy]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smiley12.gif) )
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Author: GBK
Date: 2005-05-02 03:19
Llewsrack wrote:
> This method alines the fibers of the reed
> in a straight line.
If the reed was miscut and the fibers are off center/crooked, no amount of rubbing is going to change them.
> Allowing for a more even vibration.
As compared to what?
Sealing and/or polishing the vamp and the underside of the reed, either with the fingers or plain white paper, MAY or MAY NOT have an effect on the overall performance of the reed.
Some players feel it has a beneficial effect on the reed, while others claim it definitely deadens the response and resonance.
The only thing certain about reed preparation and break in is that there is no definitive method that works for everyone...GBK
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2005-05-02 14:59
There are almost as many ways of preparing reeds as there are people who have written about it. Among them:
- Ben Armato says put the butt of the reed in a shot glass half full of water and wait until the water moves up the hollow fibers by capillary action to the vamp.
- Kenneth Jaffrey (in Australia) says soak reeds in a mixture of wood alcohol and eucalyptus oil. (I'd stay away from wood alcohol, though.)
The theory is that the eucalyptus oil gets inside the fibers and seals them.
- Get lots of water on the vamp and suck it into the fibers -- the Armato method in reverse, and the opposite of Llewsrac's method.
- Rub the vamp upward (from tip to heel) with rush, on the theory that the removed material will get into the ends of the fibers and seal them.
- Use a jeweler's oval burnisher on the vamp to crush the ends of the fibers closed and seal them.
- Ed Lacy says soak the reed for two days in distilled water, to dissolve the sugars and proteins out.
- Rub the wet vamp with your fingertip to make it slightly dirty. The oils will seal the fibers.
My own method is to sand the bottom flat and shiny, to ensure a good contact and seal on the mouthpiece, and to adjust the reed as necessary with a knife and very fine sandpaper (600 grit). I soak the reeds in tap water for 5 minutes, let them dry and repeat the sanding, doing this cycle several times over several days. I then soak again before playing. This seems to stabilize the cane.
Or we could all switch to Legeres. 
Ken Shaw
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2005-05-02 17:46
Or, just play it for 10 minutes.
It won't blow bubbles after about the first 30 seconds.
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Author: stevensfo
Date: 2005-05-02 18:08
>>- Kenneth Jaffrey (in Australia) says soak reeds in a mixture of wood alcohol and eucalyptus oil. (I'd stay away from wood alcohol, though.)
The theory is that the eucalyptus oil gets inside the fibers and seals them.
Wood alcohol is the old name for methanol. Kenneth may have a point. The methanol will remove water and perhaps the oil will soak in and replace it. The only time I've heard of such a combination is a recipe for cleaning and 'sanitising' the bores of old wood instruments. Except the recipe was for 15% methanol or ethanol which isn't enough.
>>- Ed Lacy says soak the reed for two days in distilled water, to dissolve the sugars and proteins out.
Apart from the fact that this would probably trap the proteins in the wood, the moment you put the reed on your tongue, it's bathed in a rich mixture of proteins, sugars etc, so I don't see the point.
Anyone want to talk about plastic reeds.....?
Steve
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2005-05-03 04:03
I actually end up mixing/matching Ken's method above. I take a new reed, thoroughly soak it with saliva, then sand the bottom flat and shiny. Then I place on my mouthpiece and play away, adjusting after a few days if necessary.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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