 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: JamesOrlandoGarcia
Date: 2009-11-12 13:31
There is nothing like spending big bucks on several boxes of reeds to discover that they are all harder than they were before.
So far I have delved into two boxed of Vandoren V12 Strength 4 reeds out of eight and they are too hard! Talking to other Chicago area clarinetists, the seem to be experiencing the same trend in the last few months. Has anyone tried the new 3.5 plus or 3.5 lately? I'm trying to be fiscally frugal and I would hate to waste money on more reeds that don't work.
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Author: Iceland clarinet
Date: 2009-11-12 13:47
It's good that they are too hard rather than too soft. No problem using ATG on them and you are ready to go. But I've come back to V-12 this week after 3 years not playing them and so far I've tried 5 reeds of 3.5 strength and what impressed me the most is how consistent they are and just the overall quality to me is much better than prior to Flow pack.
I saw a video with Paul Meyer on the Vandoren site trying out the new 3.5+ strength and he just went through 7 reeds without a trouble. They all sounded almost identical except maybe one reed that was too hard(easy to correct) but sounded beautifully.
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2009-11-12 13:53
I always buy reeds at least one strength too hard and then repeatedly soak them and sand the bottoms to a mirrror finish. This lets the cane warp as much as it's going to and also creates an airtight seal against the mouthpiece table.
I put a sheet of 600 grit sandpaper over a 10" x 12" piece of plate glass, dampen the bottom the reed, put my fingers only on the bark, and sand, sand, sand, checking every 20 or so strokes to see whether the bottom is evenly shiny. When it is, I rest a couple of fingers very lightly on the vamp and sand the underside just a few strokes to knock off the whiskers. I then finish on a piece of newsprint or a US Postal Service prepaid postcard.
The process reduces the strength of the reed by about one number.
Ken Shaw
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Author: D Dow
Date: 2009-11-12 14:01
Great advice from Ken as usual here...
I will also add;
.... always keep a trusy reed knife about..remember reeds to change with weather. And, depending on how rested or tired we are our perception of a reed can alter.
David Dow
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Author: mrn
Date: 2009-11-12 18:17
Has the humidity gone up where you are? We had 83% humidity on Tuesday and my favorite reed went stuffy--had to use a really soft one instead. Today the humidity is a bit less and the reed that worked great on Tuesday was too soft today.
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Author: kdk
Date: 2009-11-12 18:54
I recently opened a couple of boxes of Vandoren #5 traditionals and, yes, they were noticeably harder than the last couple of boxes I'd opened last winter or early spring. As a result I've been doing more adjusting than usual on them and using some 4-1/2 V12s (which also seem a little heavier) as a substitute. It isn't the first time a reed strength has seemed to change from one batch to another - very likely differences in growing conditions - a wetter/drier or warmer/colder season in the cane fields could explain changes. Do what you can with the ones that are a little too hard and wait to see what the next batch brings.
Karl
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Author: bill28099
Date: 2009-11-12 19:24
Speaking of sanding the bottoms of reeds has anyone ever tried a "Warp-B-Gone" by R and M Enterprises. It's a very sharp bastard file mounted on a block of wood and seems to do just as well as fine sandpaper.
A great teacher gives you answers to questions
you don't even know you should ask.
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Author: janlynn
Date: 2009-11-12 19:54
I just got a box of 3 1/2 V12's and 3 1/2 + V12's. I normally use traditional 4's and was looking for something a little softer. Almost all the 3 1/2 + are too hard (for me) but the 3 1/2's have atleast 5 that are good. But i'm still breaking in these reeds ive only had them about 2 weeks. but that is why i posted about getting a reed knife because i can tell these are going to need a bit of work.
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Author: Chetclarinet
Date: 2009-11-13 01:02
I became so frustrated with the increase in strength with the Vandoren 3/12 V-12's I have played for years , that I had my mouthpiece adjusted to the reeds! That is desparate!
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2009-11-13 01:22
bill28099 -
I had no luck searching for "Warp-B-Gone" "R and M Enterprises." The closest I came was a tool for truing up motorcycle brake disks. Do you have a source, or a photo?
I got two enormous mill bastard flat files at a hardware store that was going out of business and had stock that had been in storage forever. They're over two inches wide and two feet long. I use them frequently to sand reed bottoms. You need to get a file cleaning brush, which has small angled metal tines that pull the packed dust out of the grooves.
Ken Shaw
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Author: orchestr
Date: 2009-11-13 02:03
Don't reeds typically feel harder in colder, drier weather? You said "the last few months" and "Chicago" and this is the first think I thought.
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Author: D Dow
Date: 2009-11-13 14:58
I have found the colder the weather the harder the reed becomes more playable... I also just use a knife to remove cane...no sanding ever
..I just find sanding takes way too much off even when carefully done it seems to take reed off in an unexpected way. As to the hardness of the can it is certainly alot easier to make a hard reed soft then to get a soft reed up to snuff by clipping it.
Harold Wright told me never to sand or polish the reed on the back, unless it is really bad and as a last ditch effort to revive what was once a good reed in order to buy some more time on it to practice.
Out of a box of ten I usually get 6 Vandys to work on rotation without a problem. Usually there are 1 or 2 duds but with carefully adjusting them they can become playable. Humidity here has dropped down quite alot..we are now about 43 percent so once that happens I get rid of my summer reeds and junk them.
I also use the blue box 4s and have not had as much success but still get alot of them to work just fine...I also think it a good idea for students to take all their new reeds out the wrapping and leave them on the window sill or even a desk for a few days and then start playing them after a day or two..
They work alot better once they acclimatize to the atmosphere of your region...don't expect a Vandoren humid sealed reed to work well on day one.
On some winter days here we can reach 20 degrees below celsius...but once reeds adjust there is no problem or dramatic differences...sometime when it starts snowing I do notice when playing some reeds seem to behave different.
In fact I seem to find playing in the summer humid months alot more of a challenge from day to day in terms of reed consistency. I can honestly say I have no reed issues ever...certainly not beyond something that can easily be fixed.
Avhram Galper(Toronto Symphony ) played on only new reeds and rarely adjusted his reeds. Students of his who I knew said it was nothing for him to play a concert on a completely new reed! He also had a beautiful clear rich sound...one of my favorite players for certain..his methods I don't endorse. But sometimes if I find a reed in an emergency and works well I have on occassion played concerts without "prepping" it
So if works for you go for it....good luck
David Dow
Post Edited (2009-11-13 15:07)
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Author: kdk
Date: 2009-11-13 16:39
I wonder how many players of the generation who began their professional careers before 1950 or 1960 (who, with the end of Stanley Drucker's NYP tenure, are now almost all either retired or deceased) actually taught or practiced structured ways of preparing reeds. The only players I've had any close exposure to, mostly from the Curtis lineage taught by McLane, Bonade or their predecessors, seem not to have had any particular method other than to avoid water-logging a new reed (which can happen within minutes of steady playing). Studying with Gigliotti for several years (I was a slow learner), I never had any hint that he did anything except baby new reeds for a few days and adjust balance as they changed from day to day. He was not above taking out a new reed for a performance, either, if nothing he already had felt good. I'm not familiar with anything Bonade wrote about a break-in regimen, although he had some things to say in print about reed adjustment and balance. Of course, Bonade, Gigliotti, Wright, and Galper don't comprise their entire generation of clarinet players. Maybe without the Internet with its BBs and listserves, no one knew what anyone else was doing and players tended to follow their own inclinations without the same degree of sharing we have available today.
Just something your post brought to mind, David.
Karl
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