 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Earl
Date: 2009-05-24 17:02
OK a couple questions from an old newbe.
1. How good do you have to be to tell if your reed is bad or it's just you?
I'm on my second box of Rico Mitchell Lurie reeds and so far I tossed only one.
2. How long will a reed last if you play 1/2 hr. every day? I always take mine off the mouthpiece and put them in the little plastic thingie.
Earl
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Author: asabene
Date: 2009-05-24 22:10
1. That's a hard question to answer... it depends what you expect from your sound, how hard the reeds you are using are, etc. I have noticed many inexperienced players are often satisfied with very soft reeds that are very responsive (not implying you are inexperienced, since I don't know you... just an example!)--the issue is the sound is consistently thin. If you are looking for very easy reeds to play that don't necessarily have the perfect sound you are looking for, then that might explain why you find so many reeds acceptable. If you are somebody who likes to use very soft reeds, you could consider trying harder reeds and see how that changes things--you may become more picky as you find some reeds considerably harder to play than others, some much too soft, some with a very closed sound, some with very thin tone, etc. This is all speculation though since I have no real information from you to base this off of...
2. My reeds vary in life... some go for weeks, some go for days... before my college auditions, when I was practicing most (a lot more than 30 minutes a day), some would last me say 2 weeks or more, some about a week... I used a reed rotation though with 4 reeds and I used more than one reed a day generally I believe so as not to give one a disproportionate amount of action at any one time. I don't know if this extends this life, but I've always gotten better results from my reeds when I moisten them with water rather than in my mouth. I feel like when I moisten it in my mouth my reeds die very quickly--possibly my saliva is breaking down the reed. Water, I would imagine, would be much more kind than saliva since it is full of mucus and all sort of molecules that react with everything that goes into your mouth.
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Author: Iceland clarinet
Date: 2009-05-24 22:21
Ok first you should get the Rico reed holder for 2 reeds that comes in various colors. They put a little pressure on the tip of the reeds so it will dry out evenly so it will not wrap. Wrapped reed will make the reed not to seal on the mouthpiece and air will escape(and it might make no sound at all). To test if your reeds is wrapped you should take the mouthpiece and reed and cover the bottom on your hand and suck up on the reed and release the air from the bottom so it will make a snappy sound. If it doesn't do that your reed is wrapped and by lightly sanding the back of the reed(not at the tip) you can make it flat again. The most important thing however is avoiding the reed to wrap in the first place.
Best to avoid that is:
1. Not let the reed dry out on the mouthpiece
2. Use a mouthpiece cap when you have to leave it on for a moment
3. Only wet the vibrant part of the reed not the bark
4. Put it right after use in the rico reed guard(or a case which puts a pressure on the reed).
5. Clean the vibrant part of the reed with water after use and wipe the water off
Look at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_wqdbEcrzA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DC7t_69F8Qk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQsmwebLtcA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-yPzRXOnbQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itoTbOF1RoA
Those videos are taking from the Rico website and are from Gustavo Bulgach(klezmer player on both sax and clarinet) and Michele Gingras who has also a lot of other videos you look up on youtube and are very helpful specially for younger players.
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Author: kdk
Date: 2009-05-25 01:16
My experience (Iceland Clarinet's is apparently different) has been that using those reed holders is of very little help in preventing reed warpage unless they are the type with grooves. If you wet a piece of wood and then allow it to dry from only one surface while restricting evaporation from the opposite surface, the surface that dries first will tend to contract, creating a force that will tend to curl the side edges of the surface inward and, consequently, upward. In my experience, laying a wet reed flat against a non-porous surface (metal, glass or plastic) with no air exposure on the bottom encourages rather than discourages warpage, if by warpage is meant a convex curvature along the bottom surface of the reed (the surface that should be flat). Some, but not all, of the plastic holders like the ones I.C. mentions have grooves in the table on which the reed rests to allow air circulation, which I find does help to prevent warping the flat surface of the reed. The pressure at the tip, in my experience, has little to do with anything except that it keeps the reed still so it doesn't get loose in your case and get damaged.
In this same spirit, I regularly leave my reed on the mouthpiece to dry, since there is plenty of air circulation on both sides of the reed. I do loosen the ligature so I'm not forcing the reed against the edges of the mouthpiece window, since I have had reeds swell into the window and hold an impression if I leave them under pressure. If I change reeds, I try to dry the ones I've taken off (that are wet) upside down (flat surface up) so air can circulate around both the top and bottom surfaces before putting them in a holder of any kind. (but I know I.C. is not the only player by any means who warns against drying the reed on the mouthpiece).
I do agree that, when you are resting or otherwise not playing but plan to continue, you should use a cap to keep the reed from drying out.
I.C.'s explanation of how to test for a warped reed is good. You can also tell directly if the bottom surface has become convex (warped) by putting it flat side down on a flat surface and gently trying to rock it from side to side. If the reed is flat, it won't rock or, conversely, if it *does* rock, it *is* warped.
Sanding lightly as I.C. describes is probably the only way to attempt to fix a warped reed, but as he says, prevention is far better than any attempt at a cure. Lots of times after sanding the reed will have lost enough of its vibrancy that you'll want to just toss it and start over with a new reed.
Karl
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Author: kdk
Date: 2009-05-25 01:36
The easiest way to tell if it's you or the reed is to try a couple of other reeds and see if they improve things. But it can be very hard to tell at the beginning just what the cause of any problem is, or even to detect that a problem exists (apart from the obvious ones - loud squeaks, notes that don't speak at all, etc.). That's why having a teacher at the beginning of the process can be so helpful - a good teacher can diagnose problems and save a great deal of frustrating trial and error.
Asabene makes a good point in suggesting that inexperienced players who get used to very easy-blowing reeds often are missing their optimal sound and development of range, even though they seem to benefit from finding almost every reed in a commercial box playable. When a player at any level gets to the best reed strength for his/her embouchure and mouthpiece, the range of strengths naturally present in a box of reeds will almost necessarily include some (at the risk of sounding like a knock-off of Goldilocks and the Three Bears) that are too soft, some that are too stiff, and a few (some say fewer) that have the right resistance.
One thing to be careful about if you soak reeds in water rather than in your mouth is that you don't soak them too long. Submerged (even only halfway) in a glass of water, a reed can water log fairly quickly. I don't know either if soaking in water or saliva makes reeds last longer or die earlier. Rotating among 3 or 4 reeds I can go several weeks without starting fresh ones, but I need to re-adjust (re-balance) each periodically. Eventually each reed just seems to lose its resilience, though rarely all at the same time, so my new ones and some old ones tend to overlap. I generally play well beyond a half-hour a day. I have to admit, though, that without the periodic re-balancing, I doubt if I would be happy with any given reed much longer than 4 or 5 days.
Karl
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Author: Iceland clarinet
Date: 2009-05-25 01:44
Well by only wetting the vibrant part of the reed and keep it on a flat surface like glass or thick enough plexy glass that wont wave has helped me a lot to avoid the reeds from warping. And by keeping the reed holder in a freezer bag along with a desiccant like the ones you get from the doctor their performance is much more stable. Using a plastic holder with grooves like the Vandoren 4 reed holder with a desiccant in the middle has not done much for me and many more reeds will warp.
I also advice my students to use more quality reeds like Vandoren blue box reeds because they last much longer and the student's get into the habit of playing them in because they find more differences between new reeds and broken in than from Rico,Rico Royal,Mitchell Lurie and Mitchell Lurie Premium.
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Author: Arnoldstang
Date: 2009-05-26 00:54
Even a beginner should start assessing reeds. You should have at least three reeds on the go. Number them I,2,3. Choose the one that works best. Keep playing on this one. When you practice try to use the other two as well. Reeds should last four months . They might split, chip or just get harder to play. Every week or so go over the three reeds a make sure your favourite reed is still the best. If any of the reeds are bad...discard them.
When you have the money invest in the ATG reed system by Ridenour. Most of our problems are caused by playing on reeds that aren't vibrating well on the mouthpiece. It is a very customizing technique. You adjust the reed until it works best for you and your mouthpiece. You will gradually learn what is good. Even if the reed is perfect one day it might need adjusting later when the reed changes over time.
When I test reeds I use two basic tests....high notes....they must be stable...not wobbly.or flat. Test #2 would be throat tones....if the reed is too strong....these notes are airy and resistant. test these notes soft and loud. Good luck ps. make sure you place the reed on the mouthpiece straight and not too high or low. If the reed is not quite responding quickly enough then lower it slightly on the mouthpiece. The tip of the reed will be 1/2 mm lower on the tip rail.
Freelance woodwind performer
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