 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Caco185
Date: 2006-11-28 22:26
Hello all! I have a recital coming up in January and am starting to panic.
I post quite a bit on here about reeds, and I am so frustrated right now. I have many questions!
I have recently been noticing inconsistencys in Vandoren V-12 #4's. I play on the reeds for a few minutes, no more than 10 the first few days. One day the reed will sound great, and the next day it sounds awful, and the day after that it will sound decent, and so on.. It is just awful... and I have a huge fear that this will continue and hinder my recital.
A few questions:
Is it too soon to start preparing reeds for the recital? I think if I begin now, and set them aside, they will play quite differently come January.
IS ANYONE ELSE HAVING THESE SAME PROBLEMS? How do you cope?
My teacher suggests "aking the reed work." Which basically means, increasing air, adjusting embouchure, and so on to make the reed work. I just wonder if there is an easier way..
Any suggestions?
Dale Huggard
Clarinet Performance Major, Michigan
Buffet R-13 - Silver plated
Genussa Excellente
Spriggs Floating Rail Ligature
Vandoren V12 #4
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Author: John O'Janpa
Date: 2006-11-28 23:53
Since I frequently experience inconsistencies in the way reeds play from day to day, I keep ten reeds in playing condition. The "best" after appropriate break in are at the left end of my reed case. Two or three of these are what I consider to be concert, or audition worthy. They stay in the case until used at a concert or audition. The remaining seven or eight are played in rotation for practice or rehearsals. When they start getting iffy I break in five more and add them, throw out the worst five, and rerank eveything.
Usually I have enough choices to cover all the humidity, temperature, and whatever else changes that the reed Gods throw at me.
John
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Author: bob49t
Date: 2006-11-29 06:58
Well, I suspect panicking will not help. Keep cool. Ask your teacher if he/she knows anything about reed balancing. This might seem to be a cheeky question, but if my recent experience with performance specialists is anything to go by, the answer might easily be "pardon?" If the answer is "yes" then ask further.
My experience of various reeds, is that there is an inconsistency in left/right firmness. My personal bat is the ATG system, but I know many of our colleagues on this BB swear by other systems.
Check firstly that your mouthpiece table is not warped and the reeds that you are using don't "bounce" when laid flat on a glass slab. Trying to balance/perfect reeds under either of these circumstances I'm sure, will prove difficult and frustrating.
....Purchase a system, balance the reeds, then, as John has said, get a good number of reeds to a playing standard and keep some sort of order.
This of course is not a panacea, but it should help considerably, and should cut down the enormous expense of buying box after box of unnecessary new reeds whilst trying to find the holy grail.
The other element of course is that over practice with too tight an embouchure can kill a lip and day to day variations will be accentuated, but much has been written here and elsewhere on this subject. Your coach, of course, will have an indepth knowledge of your particular practice regime.
BobT
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Author: Bassie
Date: 2006-11-29 12:16
Take a real close look at the reeds... are you suffering from wrinkling in these centrally-heated times? In which case, play them for longer before you judge them.
The trick with VanD, I think, is to do what you're doing and just start playing them before you need them. Some will come good. Some will remain animals, but good for practicing on. Eventually one will wear out and you can start a new one...
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Author: D Dow
Date: 2006-11-29 12:27
No doubt I suspect you are worried because of the present state of the variety of reeds you are using currently(or lack) ...so take a deep breathe and relax. I would say it is a primary importance to have a variety of good working and easy to play reeds at all time...about 5 reeds in the case should be in peak playability and in performance readiness. If you have less than 5 then you may be a bit under pressure due to variance in weather.
I use V12 REEDS and have no problem with getting most of them to work!!! so I suspect you may be having problems technically...get in touch with your teacher and see what he thinks of the reeds you are using sound...and then ask him to help with adjustment....
Best wishes
David Dow
Post Edited (2006-11-29 12:29)
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Author: Caco185
Date: 2006-11-30 04:36
The reeds to tend sound too bright for my taste. My teacher says they sound fine, and I trust her opinion. Yet, I still feel I sound extremely bright or possibly even thin at times. Is it just me? I really don't wanna go up to VD V12 4 1/2's...
Is that the answer possibly?
Dale Huggard
Clarinet Performance Major, Michigan
Buffet R-13 - Silver plated
Genussa Excellente
Spriggs Floating Rail Ligature
Vandoren V12 #4
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