 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: ClariBone
Date: 2005-10-18 12:03
Hello
I was wondering. Say I have a size 4 Vandoren V12 reed, and I used the atg system on it to balance it, would that change the reeds strength down to say a 3 1/2?? If I use the atg system, should I get slightly harder reeds?? Thanks!!!
Clayton
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2005-10-18 12:05
Start with the correct strength for your playing and balance the reed with it. Too hard reeds don't help you at all, they hinder if anything.
Post Edited (2005-10-18 12:05)
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Author: GBK
Date: 2005-10-18 12:20
David is correct.
Your reed should play at about your correct strength when first tried, out of the box.
If your reed is too stiff on first playing, you are probably not using the correct strength.
The ATG System and other reed adjustment tools (Vandoren glass adjusting stick and resurfacer, etc...) are primarily for balancing and finishing, not for changing reed strengths 1/2 size or more.
BTW - A very common mistake that students make is (only) clipping the tip of the reed to make the reed more resistant. If you clip the tip of the reed you must also rebalance and re- alter the basic profile and vamp, as everything has now changed (moved higher up) ...GBK
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Author: Bob Phillips
Date: 2005-10-18 16:23
Using my ATG system, I tried yesterday to soften a 5-strength reed to play on a mpc that normally uses a 4-1/2. It took a whole lot of sanding to get rid of that 1/2 strength.
and it didn't work.
Ridenour advises starting with a reed that's a little stiff, but 1/2 extra seems like too much change to make.
I've never notice a softening of a reed when balanced with ATG.
Bob Phillips
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2005-10-18 18:55
I on the other hand had no problem starting with a stronger reed and shaving it down (yes with the ATG system) to the appropriate size. I have many boxes of 4.5 V12s (got a deal on them VIA our classifieds here) and whatever mouthpiece I'm playing at the time simply gets one of them, whittled down and balanced, if necessary.
I do take care to playtest as I remove wood to make sure I don't go too far, and to balance them out side to side as well, but the only downside I can see from trying to balance a very hard reed is that it will take more patience because of the "try it, slightly adjust it" cycle going on for much longer, and that it'll wear down your sandpaper quicker.
Alexi
PS - Let it be mentioned that I personally DO try to find the correct size and buy it from the outright, but if I find a deal on reeds that are harder, I'll get them to save some $$$ and adjust them accordingly.
US Army Japan Band
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Author: DrGrip
Date: 2005-10-19 03:55
As long as you don't shave the 'heart' of the reed, just shave off wood at the tip and down the sides. Depending on how strong you want the reed, you may shave a tiny bit down the side or a large amount off the side. Experiment with shaving different spots to solve different problems. The way I do it is to get a very hard reed, and shave it so that it is soft enough to play but keep the heart of the reed strong. That way you get the tone of a hard reed with the hardness of a soft reed.
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2005-10-19 20:32
DrGrip outlined the very same argument that David Pino did in his book, "The Clarinet and Clarinet Playing". Which is to start with as hard as reed as you can find because it has the most "heart", and to tailor the rest of it to your needs.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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