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Re: Questions Concerning ATG System

Author: senator1214
Date: 2005-06-08 23:35

I have used the ATG system for the past 5-6 months and I really would have to say that this has honestly been the most enjoyable 5-6 months of clarinet playing that I have had since I can remember. I mean sure its great playing at Carnegie Hall or Avery Fisher with the youth orchestras that I play with here in NYC, but it is really great to know that no matter the situation I will always have great reeds.

Here are my experiences with the system:

First while I was deciding on whether to purchase the system or not, I read all of the great reviews but the only thing that was holding me back was the price. But then I realized that the DVD that’s included with the system is really like you're getting a private lesson with Ridenour. To make a long story short I eventually purchased the system. After watching the DVD and reading the manual I decided to try the system on some old crappy reeds that I was just going to throw away anyway. What struck me most was that of the four reeds I used as Ginny pigs, three of them turned into fantastic ones that I eventually ended up using during a few rehearsals and a concert. What also surprised me was how simple it was to use the system and how quickly I was able to get those awful reeds to actually play well (I had an I should have thought of that moment.).

As far as reed strength is concerned, I have always used a very resistant setup (usually Grand Concert Select Evos #4 1/2 or V12 4 1/2 with my Richard Hawkins Chedeville mp.) But unlike others who didn't use a stronger reed, I found that after I finished balancing my reeds, many of them were too soft for my taste. But I have had tremendous results starting out with #5's then sanding them down.

The benefit of this has been two-fold:

1. Ridenour suggests that before any other adjustments are made, you should sand the top of the reed first because this will get rid of any high spots that the reed may have. He says that this step alone will give you more consistent reeds out of the box plus it will give you a nice flat surface to work on.

2. The second benefit for a stronger reed is that once I'm done balancing the reed it still leaves me with some room for error; meaning that if I had used my normal reed strength, there would be more of a chance that I would shave too much off, I would then have to clip the reed. For me I would rather start off on the strong side then work down, shaving a little at a time until I get to my comfort level.

Overall this system has allowed me to focus more on making music rather than using the old excuse "This reed Sucks." as a hindrance.

I hope all this helps.

K.G. Lee

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