 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: Ishikawa Naoki
Date: 2005-11-10 22:31
I'm writing a paper on the myths and truths of reeds. Can any of you share with me some of the crazyest stuff you've been told/taught or have heard about reeds; their care; storage; usade etc...anything. Thanks! This board and it's members are always a great help. ~ Ishi
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2005-11-11 01:15
Myth: Two reeds of the same strength from the same manufacturer should play exactly the same.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: GBK
Date: 2005-11-11 02:35
The best Vandoren reeds stay in France. The rest of the world gets the remainder ...GBK
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: sarnia
Date: 2005-11-11 07:23
What a problem area for the whole Clarinet Industry!!
If Reed manufacturers do not get their act together ,all the youngsters will be playing Flute and Trumpet...
Reeds are a whole activity on there own,
how can the reed manufacturer expect a child of 7,8,9 yrs to start scraping and sanding....when they should be concentrating on fingering and music..
Its a myth you get a box of 10 reeds to do a top job....
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Bassie
Date: 2005-11-11 08:34
Most of the 'myths' (there's some truth in all of them!) surround the product of the Vandoren company. It's reached 100 years of age now, but players still can't get to the bottom of the mystery...
Why does a really good Vandoren play better than any other reed? And why is a really good one so hard to find?
A lot of players get caught in a trap: harder reeds play higher notes better, and as you advance you play harder reeds. The trap is to keep pursuing harder and harder vandorens, till your gob hurts and your tone degenerates into a breathy mechanical whine. You then get obsessed with finding that one magical reed which will fix your folly - and one day, you find it! And these hard vandorens, well, they last forever, and you play that reed for years... until one day you snag it on your jacket or knock it on the stand, and that's the end of it. I've known people to mourn a lost reed. Wailing and gnashing of teeth, really. If you have no backup, how are you to play that concert? You've got to find another, and you start to buy boxes and boxes of reeds and to bemoan the vandoren quality control... maybe you should buy the next hardness up, and strengthen your technique...!
Vandoren isn't perfect, and their steps between reed hardnesses are big steps. In a box, there'll be a range from soft to hard. But given any two reeds, I reckon that one should play. If not, you're looking in the wrong place.
The next question is, how do you tell which of two reeds will play? Here's a clue: look at the bark. There's definitely a difference between dark and light reeds...
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: BelgianClarinet
Date: 2005-11-11 09:06
It's a myth that reeds make playing Clarinet difficult.
It's only a bit harder, and you have to spent time (and money :-( ) finding a few good ones, but they exist and are not 1 in a million. I have 3-4 out of a box that are worth playing. NO sanding, NO tunig, just out of the box.
Which still makes a single read a lot cheaper the hobo or bassoon reeds.
Real reed mysery is for hoboists ;-)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Alseg
Date: 2005-11-11 13:06
A paraphrase from Michael Rusinek (principal Pittsburgh orch):
"You must have good reeds. Period.
Therefore, consider them an investment, not a chore. Think of the fiddle players and what they pay for their instruments, then the cost of reeds will be more palatable."
(the above is not a myth...it is reality)
Former creator of CUSTOM CLARINET TUNING BARRELS by DR. ALLAN SEGAL
-Where the Sound Matters Most(tm)-
Post Edited (2005-11-11 13:07)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Hiroshi
Date: 2005-11-11 15:31
Var region cane plantation.
What became of there? that is the question.
Cold summer in 1985? I do not know.
Look at the reeds thru a light, they used to be
beautiful. Now ugly.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Bennett ★2017
Date: 2005-11-11 16:04
It's time to replay the only clarinet joke I know.
How many clarinet players does it take to change a light bulb?
Just one, but the player must go through a whole box of bulbs to find a good one.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Alseg
Date: 2005-11-11 16:12
Myth: Darkly speckled bark makes for better reeds.
(my observation is that the bark color, or lack of it, is not predictive for the quality of the cane)
Myth: Place newly trialed damp reeds on flat surface with flat part of the reed down to prevent warping.
Reality: I get less warp when placing the curved part of the bark down, and allowing the tip to be free. (I owe this observation to Mike Cyzewski of the North Carolina Symphony, and found it to be true.....although I carry my broken-in reeds flat side down in a case with longitudinal grooves on the flat side )
Former creator of CUSTOM CLARINET TUNING BARRELS by DR. ALLAN SEGAL
-Where the Sound Matters Most(tm)-
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: GBK
Date: 2005-11-11 16:29
Alseg wrote:
> (my observation is that the bark color, or lack of it, is not
> predictive for the quality of the cane)
I would avoid, however, any reeds with a tinge of green ...GBK
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Don Poulsen
Date: 2005-11-11 18:49
Especially if the greenish part is sort of fuzzy looking.
The eBay reed myth: The reeds included in the case add to the value of the clarinet being auctioned.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Alseg
Date: 2005-11-11 19:51
Indeed, Green reeds are bad......they are steeped in jealousy.
Another myth which could be true--who knows:
Avoid reeds packaged by ____ the summertime, because the person who puts the ONE good reed in the box is on vacation.
Former creator of CUSTOM CLARINET TUNING BARRELS by DR. ALLAN SEGAL
-Where the Sound Matters Most(tm)-
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: GBK
Date: 2005-11-11 21:07
Heard said by a colleague at last night's orchestra rehearsal:
"The Vandoren reed company - where no cane goes to waste"
...GBK
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Gandalfe
Date: 2005-11-11 21:30
Myth or truth, you decide:
Synthetic reeds don't play as well as cane.
A harder reed improves your altissimo voicings.
A softer reed improves your low notes.
You only get three or four killer reeds out of a La Vos box of ten reeds.
If you hold on the the non-players from a box they might sound better in a year or two of aging.
Reeds should be stored dry.
Reeds should be stored wet.
My brand is better than your brand.
A brand X (e.g. vandoren ZZ) is a jazz/classical players reed.
The reed makes the player.
Jim and Suzy
Pacifica Big Band
Seattle, Washington
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Shorthand
Date: 2005-11-11 22:13
I don't think I've found that anything in Larry Guy's text on the subject to be untrue.
Other than that I really haven't been in the high school and college environments where these rumors thrive for a good long while.
I have heard rumor here that Vandoren purposefully makes one rail of their Bb clarinet reeds harder then the other because of some twisting motion from the clarinettest's left hand.
Also, there's the perpetual belief that Vandoren uses lower quality cane for Bass Clarinet reeds than Tenor Sax reeds - the grass is always greener on the other side. (But TS Reeds do tend to run cheaper.)
The claims on a box of Zondas or on a bottle of ReedLife make for interesting reading, but again, I would say that I have found that ReedLife does extend the life of cane reeds noticably and the the cane in Zonda reeds is pretty unique.
However, what the patagonian winds have to do with it is beyoned my kin.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Grant
Date: 2005-11-14 23:38
Does any one else remember using Vibrator Reeds? (If you like that as a straight line be my guest.) They shouldmhave beeen a myth.
Peace on Earth and May You always have a reed that PLAYS.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Alseg
Date: 2005-11-15 00:30
Vibrator reeds.....actually they were ok as long as you had a good supply of batteries.
(ducks for cover)
My fav....Symetricut.....slots on the vamp.
If you could spell it...you could play it.
Former creator of CUSTOM CLARINET TUNING BARRELS by DR. ALLAN SEGAL
-Where the Sound Matters Most(tm)-
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: sfalexi
Date: 2005-11-15 00:35
Craziest thing I ever heard was either on this board or from the klarinet email newsletter . . .
Apparently there was a famous professional clarinetist who would find a good reed, and then leave it on the mouthpiece. For WEEKS at a time. And I mean NEVER take it off. After playing, leave it assembled, place a cap on it, and put it away. And next time he needed to play, just wets it, waits for it to unwarp, and plays away.
Alexi
PS - Can't for the life of my remember who told me that story or who it was about, but it sounded pretty funky to me.
US Army Japan Band
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: GBK
Date: 2005-11-15 00:56
Grant wrote:
> Does any one else remember using Vibrator Reeds?
Vibrator reeds - The reeds with the grooves in them (4 grooves actually) were made in the 60's and 70's by the Chiron Company. They used to be located at 1650 Broadway in New York City.
They marketed the "Vibrator" clarinet and saxophone reeds heavily in the 60's and 70's, and even advertised in Downbeat magazine. Their endorsee was Julian "Cannonball" Adderley.
Their ad usually touted the "patented tone grooves - to improve tonal brilliance".
The reeds were very inexpensive, and were sold in bulk to many schools for their clarinet and saxophone students. If I remember correctly, they were .25 each and came in colored individual cardboard holders (blue was strength #2, green was strength #2 1/2) which would fit in the reed machines in the band room. Students could insert a quarter and purchase a reed.
The cane quality varied from toasty brown to burnt toasty dark brown.
I actually still have about 100 of them left over, sitting on the shelf in my studio.
That's the best place for them....GBK
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: clarnibass
Date: 2005-11-15 05:54
"I would avoid, however, any reeds with a tinge of green ...GBK"
I'm colourblind, so that's why I can't find the good reeds!
"Their endorsee was Julian "Cannonball" Adderley."
Did he actually use them? He definitely had an amazing sound and perfect articulation.
"The cane quality varied from toasty brown to burnt toasty dark brown.
I actually still have about 100 of them left over, sitting on the shelf in my studio.
That's the best place for them....GBK"
I can think of a better place 
Alexi, I wasn't the one who said that, and I've never heard that story, but that is very close to what I do. The only difference is I sometimes (but not always) take the reed off after I play to swab the mouthpiece, and sometimes (but not always) take the reed off before playing to wet it.
I honestly don't understand what is so crazy about that. All the talk about breaking in reeds, not playing more than 5 minutes a day on each reed for the first week, etc. - sounds much more crazy to me....
Post Edited (2005-11-15 05:58)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Bassie
Date: 2005-11-15 07:57
Alexi - it's true, some people won't touch a reed once it's started working for them. And some of the harder grades of Vandoren (4 and above) just seem to last forever, getting slowly darker and funkier...
Personally, I always moisten and re-affix. But other people do other things, as we've seen.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
