Author: NBeaty
Date: 2009-08-13 00:27
I agree, to an extent, with what everyone has said.
Most professionals do tend to know what they want a reed to sound and FEEL like more so than the amateur or student. That being said, they tend to be able to pick out the best reeds from a box much easier and have a greater degree of embouchure and air stability that helps the reeds break in and still sound good.
A few things:
1) Synthetic reeds
I have always been able to find at least 2 reeds in a box that will outplay the best synthetic reeds I've tried (which has been many, legere, forestone. etc). Not only do synthetics not sound as good (as rich in overtones), they do things to your embouchure. Rather, you do things with your embouchure to try to get the "cane like" sound out of something that simply isn't going to get it.
My teacher, associate principal in montreal symphony, played a rehearsal on a forestone I think it was, and said it felt great. The next day he played it and it sounded HORRIBLE. I tried it and came to the same conclusion. For the next few days he said his embouchure wasn't feeling right, kind of fatigued and not quite sounding like himself. I'm convinced it was due to the plastic\synthetic reed.
2) My teachers in college, both undergrad and grad school, play vandoren v12's. They both keep\use around 4-5 in the box. 2 are performance ready, 2 are good enough and safe enough for practice and rehearsals if needed. One of them uses the perfect-a-reed, lightly balancing the reeds that need it. The other runs most through the reed wizard which balances the back half, and makes small adjustments here and there if warranted.
Neither one of then, nor I, freak out or obsess about having the perfect reed. We all carefully break them in, make minor adjustments, and work on playing the clarinet.
3) You should never be dependent on having a great reed to sound good. There should be 3 or 4 reeds in a box that will be in the ballpark. I have found that spending as much time as possible on a good warmup, good breathing, and technical skills have allowed me to 1) pick better reeds, 2) have reeds break in more quickly, and 3) become a better clarinet player instead of just a better reed adjuster.
If you give a "perfect", balanced, broken in reed to someone who hasn't practiced fundamentals (particularly breathing and embouchure) it really just doesn't matter.
A portion of the professional world is capable of finding that reed that will be 99.9% fantastic, and having that add the extra 5% nuance in their playing that is impossible for others to get.
-Nathan
McGill Graduate Student
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