 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Kazza3
Date: 2013-06-08 06:50
I know reed breaking-in procedures have been discussed endlessly here, but this is a question that I couldn't specifically find an answer to. I'm considering soaking new reeds and letting them dry overnight before playing them the next day, or possibly doing this multiple times over several days before actually playing them, with the intent of stabilising them before playing on them, rather than the usual soak and then play for a couple of minutes on the first day. Maybe I'd still soak them in my mouth very briefly afterwards to start sealing it off. Thoughts?
Something I saw when looking for answers to this was the idea of taking all of the reeds out of their individual packages when you get a new box of reeds, do people regularly do this?
Thanks.
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2013-06-08 11:23
Kazza3 -
I do exactly what you describe and have done it for many years. However, most people wet a reed and slap it on, and they get great results.
I remove a box full of reeds from their carriers and drop them in a small soup bowl half full of water.
When the reeds are well soaked (i.e., when the tips are soaked through and nearly transparent - about 10 minutes), I remove a reed and wipe it dry by putting my thumb at the top of the vamp and my index finger below. About a dozen strokes gets the surfaces dry.
Next, I look at the butt end to see whether it's an even curve. If one side is high, I put the reed on (black) 360 grit sandpaper over plate glass and sand while pressing on the high side of the bark. If the curve is symmetrical, I skip this step.
Then I put the reed on a piece of 600 grit (or well-worn 400 grit) sandpaper over a piece of plate glass. I press down hard on just the bark and work until the bottom is shiny. Then I put two fingers on the vamp (but not the tip) and one finger on the bark and sand lightly to polish the area under the vamp.
I finish the polishing on a tan cardboard prepaid Postal Service postcard - the kind with no printing on the back. You can also use a sheet of newsprint, preferably from an unprinted area.
I repeat this with each reed and then put them away. If they're Vandorens or other reeds with ventilated plastic carriers, I put the reeds in them. I let them dry for at least two days and then repeat the process.
I do this several times. My goal is to get the reeds to warp as much as possible and then remove what's been pushed out by the warping.
The process reduces the reed strength by at least one full number, so I begin with harder reeds than I play.
I do other things, such as balancing the two sides of the reed and reshaping the tip so that it matches the mouthpiece. Also, Kalmen Opperman taught me to narrow reeds on the sides by maybe 1/10 of a millimeter. This leaves space to adjust the reed position from side to side in almost microscopic amounts. There will be a sweet spot where the tone and response are dramatically better. Hold the reed on with with your thumb and then carefully put on the ligature.
As the reed ages, it will often swell on the bottom, especially where it intersects the window. If you see or feel any "step,", remove it on 600 sandpaper. This is even more important if you don't sand the bottom, because the un-polished cane swells and indents more readily.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2013-06-08 14:59
This is the reed break-in process video done by Mark Nuccio of the NYP.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9y0Zv3EZ-Ms
Every successful reed player does some version of this for sure. As in the video I do prefer to play for a few minutes after the initial soaking (for me it's about 2 1/2 minutes of soaking; five minutes of playing and just doing this about 4 days before really playing a reed).
It's pretty obvious that this process involves having a lot of reeds going "through the mill" at one time so, yes, having at least a full box of 10 out at once is paramount (otherwise how do you know if you are holding the best reed in the box or the worst?).
Besides the wetting/playing routine (and how extensive or long it takes) there are many other polishing, sanding, shaving, balancing, ATGing things that can be suggested but for me the wetting/playing MUST happen.
..............Paul Aviles
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2013-06-08 17:11
Constant wetting and drying will warp any type or kind of wood including reed cane. When a reed warps and no longer seals it creats all types of problems. I have not had a clarinet reed warp in over 30 years, not a single one because of what I do and don't do. I share this on my website so you may want to go there and read my reed pages. I learned to do what I came up with, which is very simple and using common sense, years ago when I made my own reeds and then used the same common sense when I decided to go back to commerical reeds which I did after trying the professional Rico reeds when they developed them and sent me several for my opinion in the course of a few years.
Before using the Rico Vitalizers I used to do other things to keep my reeds from warping once I broke them in, the Vitalizer made that a whole lot less complicated. I swear by them but I still follow my simple common sense method I discribe to prevent them from warping in the first place when breaking them in.
ESP eddiesclarinet.com
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Author: Kazza3
Date: 2013-06-09 05:32
Thanks for your replies. I do already use most of the above techniques (except not quite to the extent of your trial-by-hellfire method, Ken, but it clearly works for you!), but that does answer my questions. Thankyou!
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2013-06-09 13:17
I invented the method for contra reeds, which come pre-warped with a bulge down the middle of the bottom. I think this is due to the stiffness of the bark, which forces the substance out at the bottom. I find a little of the same on bass clarinet reeds, but clearly Ed Palanker and Mark Nuccio, who play in a much higher league than I could ever hope to reach, have found a simpler method that works.
Ken Shaw
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Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2013-06-09 16:01
I've tried pre-soaking reeds 2 or 3 times before trying to use them, thinking it would pre-seal them so they'd be more stable once I started to play or work on them.
What seemed to happen was that the reeds became unplayably stiff - whether from warping as Ken suggests or simply from swelling and not returning completely to their original thickness, as I interpreted the cause. Some reeds tend to vibrate more efficiently and produce a clearer sound and crisper response just because of the characteristics of the cane they're cut from. After those pre-soaks, I found it impossible to tell which reeds were naturally more vibrant because at that point none of them were. So I had to do a good deal of work with sandpaper, rush, ATG, a knife or whatever tool I was into using at the time just to get them to vibrate. Too much work for me.
When I go through a box of reeds, as many other players do, I play test each one for a few seconds and make a decision about whether it's good as is, has potential with a little adjusting, or is hopeless without practically re-profiling the reed by hand. The ones that play as is and the ones I think I can use with minimal adjusting go on a glass *flat side up* to dry. The others either go into the trash can or into a holding drawer in case I ever buy a serious reed profiler (like a Reed-dual or one of the machines Uhl sells). Then break-in proceeds as others describe it, gradually increasing the play time on each reed, adjusting as I go, throwing out the ones I ruin or that seem to be going in a wrong direction.
As to your other question about taking reeds out of their packaging. With Vandoren reeds I've been doing this. It's a mystery to me why anyone at Vandoren would have thought that sealing in the prevailing Parisian humidity or any particular moisture level would be of any help in other climates with different atmospheric conditions. Whatever the moisture content of a brand new reed may be (and I question whether it has any importance at all, since it will begin to change immediately), it will eventually have to function in the humidity where the reed will be used, not where it was cut. So I take the Vandorens out of the foil packaging (leaving them in the plastic holders for protection) and let them adjust to my climate for a few days. Some players I know let them sit for at least two weeks. I don't do this with any reed that doesn't come sealed in foil (I think Vandoren is the only one).
I do think that Rico Reserves and Reserve Classics are overprotected in plastic holders that don't allow much air to touch the reed, but there is at least some contact. I prefer the old-fashioned way of packaging reeds in cards (Pilgerstorfer, Gonzalez and, I think Zonda). The cardboard is porous and plastic, which provides very little more protection, can be environmentally more damaging depending on what it's made of.
Karl
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