 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Bill
Date: 2001-01-13 15:47
Can someone outline how the Reed Wizard is used to adjust a reed, and what parts need to be replaced with use, e.g., a blade or sandpaper?? Does Ben Armato's book focus on the use of the Reed Wizard, or is it independent of the Reed Wizard?
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2001-01-13 20:25
The book is independent of The Reed Wizard.
Drop Ben a line. Besides being an entertaining dinner companion - ;^) - he's more than happy to discuss the pros & cons of his Wizard.
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Author: mw
Date: 2001-01-13 20:45
The Clarinet World is fortunate, indeed, to have someone like Ben Armato. mw
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Author: Anji
Date: 2001-01-13 22:24
For a more standard approach, with Knife, file and sandpaper (Isn't that a Kung Fu movie?) check out Larry Guy's book.
So long as you choose a deliberate method and stick to same, you should have some good reeds to work with.
I have begun to take down Rico Grand Concerts from #5 to where I can play them.
At 50 cents a reed, this has been the most economical method.
I follow Larry's break-down to breaking in reeds and it works for me.
anji
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Author: Gene Wie
Date: 2001-01-14 08:13
I had the opportunity to meet Ben Armato at a seminar covering some of his products back in 1997. Fantastic presentation. Being the rather poor student that I was, I didn't scrape together enough cash to purchase a Reed Wizard until last year.
It's done a great job on balancing and fixing my reeds. Half the clarinet players I know locally think it's some kind of hoax. So, while they scramble through their boxes of tens searching madly for that one good reed, I laugh to myself and enjoy the additional usability I've managed to squeeze out of many "marginal" reeds with the Reed Wizard.
Sure, it's not a magic solution to all reed problems. It has to be used properly to have any benefit. I can't count the number of players that have come up while I'm working on a reed and telling me that the contraption isn't going to do anything. And is this opinion grounded on any provable hypothesis or researched data?
No.
It's usually a narrow minded assumption that completely ignores the fact that technology can and will be used to improve methods and equipment (i.e., reed making and reeds). I've come to appreciate it all that much more after trying to squeeze out Copland and Nielsen on bad reeds (doesn't happen, sorry).
Thanks to Ben I save lots of time and money. And I don't have to put up with this "one good reed in a box" mumbo jumbo anymore.
Ben Armato is *awesome*.
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Author: John
Date: 2001-01-14 15:10
I was impressed by what Mr. Armato did with a poorly balanced reed I had in my case using his reed wizard. It seems expensive to me, but may be worth it for the value of fretting less about few good reeds in a box. His book has some focus on what the reed wizard does, but is also worth while for a knife and light person.
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2001-01-15 15:33
Bill -
The Reed Wizard uses a built-in file to give the proper shape to the vamp, particularly near the upper end. It has no knife, sandpaper or other parts that need to be replaced. You just clean out the dust from the file with a little stiff brush that comes with the RW.
The RW is expensive, and you can learn to do the same thing with a knife or sandpaper, but I have one and use it a lot, since it does the work automatically. It comes with an instruction sheet, but Ben's book "The Reed Wizard and Beyond" is worth getting since it covers additional reed adjustment techniques.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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