 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: JPMarcellus2011
Date: 2011-11-05 16:12
I'm guessing that the heart accounts for a lot of the pitch issues associated with the reed, but what about the tip. I use stronger reeds, Rico GCS Evo 4.5s, and I adjust the tip with a reed knife to help with response. I, however, look for balance throughout, and I end up adjusting in the heart area sometimes. Response increases and pitch stability decreases. What to do?
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Author: William
Date: 2011-11-05 17:56
At the risk of telling you something that ypu already know, the most perfect reed in the world will not play in tune if you do not use your ears. Then, use a reed that will allow you to bend the pitch up or down, depending on the individual note's tuning needs. Before you adjust the reeds heart, try removing any left over bark from the beginning of the vamp and then scraping straight across until your low E & F (3's) articulate easily--just pop right out. Then, balance the reed to your mouthpiece and, lastly, adjust the tip. Basically, work the reed from cut to tip--not the other way. But always, for optimum tuning, PLAY BY EAR. Playing in tune is better than "being" in tune.
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Author: kdk
Date: 2011-11-05 18:56
William's suggestion is interesting to me on a couple of counts.
First is that some reeds are designed with the bark cut straight across ("French" or "double" cut) as he suggests you do by hand (e.g. V12) and some are "single" cut with a half-moon shape in the bark at the end of the vamp (e.g. Rue lepic). This difference can, in my opinion, be a valid reason for choosing one style over another if you find the response of one or the other generally preferable.
Second, I have recently been finding, by actually measuring my reeds' thickness from tip to bark with a Perfecta-Reed, that many if not most of the time they *feel* unbalanced, there is actually a difference in thickness between the left and right sides, but it isn't in the tip area, where I had always assumed it was. On the reeds I've measured (10 Rue lepics) in the last few days it's actually in an area starting at the edge of the bark and extending into the vamp about 1/4-inch. I could go into this in more detail, but this seems like the wrong thread.
So I will second William's suggestion that you try with a few reeds working at the bark end first and see if you can get a balanced response that way before you touch anything near the tip, where nearly all of the unbalanced reeds I measured were actually identical. Ultimately, of course, the right place to remove wood to correct an imbalance is the place where one side is thicker than the other, wherever that turns out to be, and my results with these 10 Rues may be a-typical.
(BTW, it does tend to support the idea that Vandoren cuts its reeds heavier on the left - it's certainly true for the 10 I measured - but my solution and the one most players I know have tried to apply is to gently remove cane along the heavier side from maybe mid-vamp up to the tip.)
To answer your question, I find that very stiff, unresponsive or difficult to control reeds tend to be sharp and that flatness results when the reed is too soft to allow normal controlling pressure from the embouchure. So any adjustments that go too far in the wrong direction, wherever you make them, can cause pitch problems. I think there are probably acoustical or mechanical forces at work that explain this, but I don't have the physics background to know what those forces are. Which is all part of why it's important in the first place to find a good, comfortable strength range for your mouthpiece and why the ideal strength may be to some extent, I think, independent of the player's embouchure strength.
Karl
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2011-11-06 01:53
In the end, it's you that plays in tune or not, not a reed. If you choose a reed that's comfortable to play in the first place you can't blame intonation on a reed. Why would you choose a reed that's not comfortable to begin with? ESP eddiesclarinet.com
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Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2011-11-06 04:09
Since I designed the GC's I would not mess with the heart of the reed. In most cases never. That's what the GC's are all about , the heart of the reed. If you remove the heart I would strongly suggest using a lighter strength reed. Sometimes the fibers are a bit stiff. On a wet reed, placed on your mouthpiece try pushing on the fibers at the heart very lightly. Your thumb should be 3/4's of an inch back from the tip. You don't want to collapse the tip.
I would also suggest to leave the tip alone. It's usually cut around .05", or only 2 or 3 humun hairs. If you make the reeds thinner make your adjustments slightly behind the reed. Since the tip is already thin and you mass with the tip, especially by the side rails the reed can go into a squeak mode and the reed will have a much shorter life. Also less of a chance of hitting the high notes, which was my main objective in my design.
So what else can you do to free up the reed? Try thinning the sides of the reeds towards the back of the reed up to the middle of the reed. Doing this should give you a good, long lasting reed. If these suggestions don't work, try a softer reed and if it's too soft use one of thos tiny nick clippers and take off very little at a time.
Designer of - Vintage 1940 Cicero Mouthpieces and the La Vecchia mouthpieces
Yamaha Artist 2015
Post Edited (2011-11-08 00:47)
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Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2011-11-08 00:59
KDK, you are correct about VD cutting the reeds thicker on the left side. This is how I set up the GC's to be .02" lighter on the back of the reed. Towards the tip the sides are the same. Around the middle of the reed is when I started shaving off the right part of the reed from .0015 to .02, by the bark.
If the reeds measure perfectly the vibration of the reeds kind of fight each other because they are perfectly balanced. To improve the vibrations of the reeds I found the need to make the right side a very tiny bit thinner. I also did this with the Mitchell Lurie reeds.
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Author: clairmusic
Date: 2011-11-10 15:08
if you like rico reeds. you should try the rico classic reserves. they were designed by Mark Nicco. they come in pluse sizes. I use a 4+ . the have grest response play with ease and have exellent color.
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