 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Albert
Date: 1999-02-28 02:51
Help! Every time I play throat G to the C on the staff, I get this suttle sqeak! It sounds like someone that whistles when they talk beacuse they have a gap in their fron teeth! It's driving me nuts! I've narrowed it down to the reed, or a leak. My guess is that it's the reed. So what do it do? Do I sand it down? Where? Ever since my old reed went bye bye I've been lost. Thanks.
Albert
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It's a flute. That's the only woodwind I can do, since it's not that complicated. Ha! :o)
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Author: Ginny
Date: 1999-02-28 03:30
Do you get the C note with the squeak/whistle? or just the whistle?
If it's just the whistle, find it's pitch and look for a leak there, or at the key that would play the whistle's pitch.
Try a different reed.
Ginny
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Author: Dee
Date: 1999-02-28 03:39
Albert wrote:
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Help! Every time I play throat G to the C on the staff, I get this suttle sqeak! It sounds like someone that whistles when they talk beacuse they have a gap in their fron teeth! It's driving me nuts! I've narrowed it down to the reed, or a leak. My guess is that it's the reed. So what do it do? Do I sand it down? Where? Ever since my old reed went bye bye I've been lost. Thanks.
Albert
=0===o=o=o=o=o=o==o=o=o==
It's a flute. That's the only woodwind I can do, since it's not that complicated. Ha! :o)
You may not be getting the holes completely closed.
You need to be rotating through 4 to 10 reeds. Don't play just one until it dies. Try not to play the same reed two days in a row. If you have more than one practice session per day, use a different reed for each session.
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Author: Rick2
Date: 1999-02-28 05:34
I had a similar problem and it disappeared when I went to a mouthpiece with a more open facing. You might try out several different facings, some more open and some more closed, to see if any of them help.
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Author: Albert
Date: 1999-02-28 05:35
Dee-
But it's sooooooo difficult to find another reed. I did use your advice when I had more tha 1 reed, let's say 3. Those Vandorens are starting to annoy me. Maybe I should switch to Grand Concert. Oh, I don't think I'm not covering the holes correctly, because I do get the D out fine, and the C is just a key.
Ginny-
I'm not sure what you mean by "whistle"
Thanks ya'll.
-Alberto
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Author: Ginny
Date: 1999-02-28 06:51
I was refering to your statement that it sounded like that sound when some one whistles through their teeth. If you can identify the pitch of it, you may locate your leak, the clarinet may be leaking from that point... somewhere above the c in alltisimo
Ginny
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Author: Dee
Date: 1999-02-28 12:56
Albert wrote:
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Dee-
But it's sooooooo difficult to find another reed. I did use your advice when I had more tha 1 reed, let's say 3. Those Vandorens are starting to annoy me. Maybe I should switch to Grand Concert. Oh, I don't think I'm not covering the holes correctly, because I do get the D out fine, and the C is just a key.
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The C (and B) in the staff are more than "just a key". If the spring tension is wrong, it won't close quickly or completely. If the pad is bad, it again won't close completely. If a key or rod is bent or out of alignment or the binding, it won't close quickly or completely.
You haven't said how long you have been playing, but many students do go through spells where they miss on covering the holes properly even though they had been doing fine before that. It is very common for the D to be OK but when trying to play the C, the hand gets out of position to get the key for this and the hole for D then leaks a little.
I have to constantly watch my daughter's hand position. If I don't, she ends up drifting into a bad position and then she has all kinds of problems.
Ragarding reeds, I rotate through at least 10. There is a mix of reeds in my box. For me that is about half Vandoren #3 1/2 and half Mitchell Lurie #4. If you play only one or two reeds all the time, you get so used to their characteristics and you adjust to them as they deteriorate and the result is that when you have to get new reeds it is very hard to play for awhile until you get used to them.
However there may be a mismatch between your reed and mouthpiece. What brand and model of mouthpiece are you using? What brand, type, and strength of reed are you using? How long have you been playing clarinet? Do you have a private teacher? Someone who can check you out can probably spot the cause of the problem quite quickly.
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Author: Ray Swing
Date: 1999-02-28 14:54
Your instructor should be able to solve the squeak problem. She/He has the on site knowledge of you and your clarinet and should be able to diagnose the problem.
I agree with Dee concerning multiple reeds. I carry 4 super v-12's in my reed carrier and also a box of them in my case. I do occasionally use Mitchell Lurie's since they always seem to "sing" right out of the box but die somewhat on me after a period of constant playing (a half hour or so in to a session). I also run with 3 1/2 V-12 and 4 Luries.
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Author: Rick2
Date: 1999-02-28 16:20
I tend to carry 3-4 reeds in my rotation and I get rid of them when I don't like how they sound. I can generally get 1 - 2 weeks per reed (cumulative time). Occasionally I will still play a spent reed when I'm only working on fingering, but contrary to what Dee says, I have no trouble adapting to a new reed. It's more of a pleasure to be savored (like a chocolate truffle) and I generaly break in new reeds by playing songs I like since I sound the best when a reed is brand new.
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Author: Albert
Date: 1999-03-01 21:52
Dee worte--------->However there may be a mismatch between your reed and mouthpiece. What brand and model of mouthpiece are you using? What brand, type, and strength of reed are you using? How long have you been playing clarinet? Do you have a private teacher? Someone who can check you out can probably spot the cause of the problem quite quickly.
I use a Vandoren 5RV Lyre (88) and Vandoren 4.5's. They've worked quite well together. I've been playing almost 5 years now, quite advanced :o). I'm going to see my teacher this weekend, and he should fix it. Yay!
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Author: Albert
Date: 1999-03-01 21:56
I do rotate! I have 4 in my reed holder and I switch every day. But the problem is, Dee, that I can't find that good reed to rotate with! That's why I've been stuck with the same reed for a while. Poor me. :o( Hopefully Mr Eger will make things right (teacher)
-Albert
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Author: Dee
Date: 1999-03-02 01:36
Albert,
Every player is indeed different but I would suggest that a Vandoren 4.5 is basically too hard a reed, especially if you are having difficulty find one that plays well for you. There really is no need for that stiff a reed unless you are one of those people who want to do a lot of individualized adjustment to the reed. The 5RVLyre mouthpiece should be fine with a 4 or possibly a 3.5 may work well.
Right now, I play a Vandoren B45 Profile 88 mouthpiece with either a Vandoren 3.5 or Mitchell Lurie 4 reed. This covers the entire range of the clarinet quite satisfactorily (up to and including the C above the 5th ledger line above the staff). I am considering buying 5RVLyre for a little bit less open mouthpiece so have been researching reeds before I make the plunge and order one to try.
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Author: Ginny
Date: 1999-03-03 02:53
Albert you'd written that you couldn't acess new posts, Mark wrote back to you. And you probably couldn't read it. No email address for you either.
Ginny
No idea, Albert. I'm accessing from home and things seem to work fine. Try hitting "Reload" - possibly something between you and Sneezy is doing some caching. Sneezy is set up specifically not to cache.
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Author: Albert
Date: 1999-03-03 23:03
Well, I do work on my reeds, but not that much. Just sanding. I think 4.5 are good for me though, my private teacher agrees. Softer reeds give me that thin sound. You know. I know that 3.5-4 is recommended, but everyone's different, right? Maybe I should switch MP's. Any goods suggestions? This is a new subject! :o)
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