 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: AAAClarinet
Date: 2013-08-08 23:53
hello bboard, i recently read that a well known clarinetist doesnt believe in polishing reeds because it caused to reeds to sound bright and harsh. any thoughts on this. i have read here many times that people polish there reeds either by sand paper or even news paper on a flat surface.
thanks for any replies.
AAAClarinet
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Author: kdk
Date: 2013-08-09 00:14
Yes, lots of players will swear that polishing their reeds does many things good and bad. And they're all convinced they're right.
Try polishing a few reeds yourself and see what result you get. One of three possibilities: it does something bad to the reeds; it does something good for the reeds; it doesn't seem to do anything you can detect.
If the first, don't polish. If the second, polish if the benefit seems worthwhile. If the third, it doesn't really matter whether you do or don't polish, but polishing would seem like wasted effort.
Karl
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2013-08-09 00:32
I agree with Karl about just seeing for yourself. I used to use a sharpening stone for "polishing" when I did it to avoid having to find really, REALLY fine sandpaper (that, I later found is available at auto repair stores). The last thing you want to do in this process is take out material. You just want to compress, and smooth out.
..............Paul Aviles
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Author: bmcgar ★2017
Date: 2013-08-09 00:44
AAA, if you're tallying responses, I'm with Tom Ridenour on this. Unnecessary and potentially damaging, as is sanding the back of a reed to try to flatten it.
Let the games begin!
B.
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Author: Joseph Brenner, Jr.
Date: 2013-08-09 01:07
Dogma abounds. See for yourself whether polishing helps in any way. Search the board; some members here have described how they polish.
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2013-08-09 01:48
My first clarinet teacher used to polish his reeds and then rub them with beeswax. He was a professional clarinettist of some repute and swore that it made his reeds sing. I tried it and it made no difference to mine except that they tasted strange.
Tony F.
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Author: Vova Doob(UA)
Date: 2013-08-09 12:19
One of my teachers polished his reeds with big finger covered with piece of cloth, or with another reed. This two ways gives different results in sound but all of them gives long life for reed. I`ve polish Vandoren blue box reeds (as you know this reeds never plays long) and I`ve increase life of reed on 100%.
But there are many reeds that it isn`t necesary to polish them
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Author: Wes
Date: 2013-08-09 19:27
Yes, I lightly rub the V12 reeds when dry with#400 silicon carbide paper, essentially to remove the grain raised by wetting, but not to remove any of the reed itself. I believe that each of the raised grains acts as a stiffener, making the reed harder to play. The flat bottom of the reed is untouched as it does not seem to develop raised grain with wetting. To each his or her own!
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Author: LJBraaten
Date: 2013-08-10 05:35
Hmmm... been wondering about this topic myself, I go back and forth ( no pun intended) about whether or not to rub the top of a cane reed with a piece of paper and reed dust to seal it. The bottom of the reed is a different story. It seems to me that when one has a reed that is warped and doesn't play well there are two choices, throw it out or sand it. ( I'd like to know if there are other options.) Sometimes it takes a light sanding, sometimes it takes a lot of sanding which can be counterintuitive. So one way to check whether or not the sanding has done the job is to polish the back of the reed on some paper. High spots will be shinier than low spots. I repeat the sanding until polishing shows a consistent shine. Of course a lot of sanding may require that the reed be trimmed, or discarded -- but at least I gave it a shot. I must confess however, that my reeds that have become playable through lots of sanding hardly ever become concert quality, they are strictly for practice or rehearsal. My concert reeds are usually those that play well after break in with minimal work of any kind, including polishing. But I would also observe that very few reeds don't warp at least a little, so most could benefit from at least a little sanding.
My reeds? I've tried Mitchell Lurie, Rico Reserve Classic, Vandoren Traditional & Rue 56, Rico, Rico Grand Concert Evolution, Gonzalez FOF, sizes 3.0 - 4.5. I've had varied results with all of them.
Laurie
Laurie (he/him)
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Author: rdc
Date: 2013-08-10 14:06
I try to prevent reed warpage by storing reeds in a humidity-controlled reed case, soaking only the vamp of the reed, using minimal soaking, and by drying off the flat side of the reed around the area that of it that will contact the mouthpiece from just below the bottom of the window up to just before the facing curve starts before placing the reed on the mouthpiece.
Therefore, I haven't been polishing the reed top or bottom for many years now.
However, this summer I have been re-reading "The Clarinet and Clarinet Playing" by David Pino, who is a strong advocate for sanding the flat side of the reed with as fine a sandpaper as you can obtain. I came across this statement: "That it is possible to do the job (of sanding) with a plain piece of typing paper indicates the degree of fineness required."
I thought I would try just a minimal amount of "polishing" during the reed break-in process to see if there would be any beneficial results. I hesitate to even call this "polishing," because I am not trying to produce a shiny surface or check for high or low spots. I just move the reed back and forth on a piece of paper for a few strokes until I feel resistance to the change of direction, sort of a "chik, chik, chik" feel under my fingers. I do this for the first three or four times I play a new reed and anytime thereafter that the reed's response has changed for the worse.
Results: it may be my imagination, but I feel the reed responds slightly better after this procedure. Something to try that may or may not work for you.
Robert Chest
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Author: LJBraaten
Date: 2013-08-10 15:41
I probably should add that in most cases the aggressive sanding I have done was on an apparently bad box of Rico Reserves that I purchase last year. The four I have tried so far have come out of the box badly warped and almost impossible to play. Most other reeds I have tried have required substantially less sanding.
I also read Pinot, and saw his comment about lightly "sanding" on very fine sand paper or typing paper. But that seems to contradict what he says later in the book when he recommends buying reeds a strength or two stronger then you would normally use (I think he advocates buying #5) since you are going to thin them by sanding. This, to me, suggests a lot more aggressive sanding than the paper rubbing method he mentions earlier. Pinot is also an advocate of polishing the vamp of a reed by wrapping paper around your finger and moving it back and forth over the sand paper and reed to rub fine reed dust into the reed. IIRC, he doesn't give it a name (such as polishing or sealing) nor does he explain why, he just says to do it. It was only on this board that I first saw a discussion about "polishing" and "sealing" a reed.
Laurie
Laurie (he/him)
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Author: morbius
Date: 2013-08-11 15:00
I believe in "sanding/polishing" but with a double cut file, the kind you can buy at your local hardware store. I make my own reeds, and in preparing the blanks, I am meticulous about flattening the blanks on 600 sand paper on top of glass and checking for low spots by looking at the light reflected off the blank (at an angle). The theory being that there must be a perfectly flat backside of the reed to form a seal with the mouthpiece.
The file is used after the reed is pretty much ready to play (I make them just a touch on the hard side). And I play on them in that condition for at least 3 to 4 days, as the reed quality and strength will change with use. I find that the cane becomes more stable with use, and you will have a better chance to make the correct adjustments at that point. Then is when I go to the file. A file will actually take off less material then sand paper. So I use the file to: bring the reed to the right strength relative to my mouthpiece. Further, sometimes a reed (with some use) will develop a slight "bump" just below the window of the mouthpiece due to swelling of the wood from moisture. This changes the blowing characteristics of the reed/mouthpiece combination. The fie can touch up this with a few passes.
John Dorch
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Author: Bob Phillips
Date: 2013-08-13 03:52
Right out of the box, before wetting them the first time, I rub the back of a new reed on a piece of 600-grit wet or dry paper supported on a glass plate.
I then pull the paper out from under the reed, turn it (the paper over), center it on the reed and polish the machined surface of the reed. Centger the paper so that you don't catch the edge the reed and ruin it.
The polish removes very little material, but does seal the pores in the vamp; and, I think, this extends the life of the reed. Life is also extended by rotating 8-playable reeds.
If upon playing it, the reed needs to be balanced, I do what is necessary and then polish it again. (I balance reeds using the ATG method with 220 grit wet or dry paper.)
Bob Phillips
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Author: Grabnerwg
Date: 2013-08-14 14:48
Polishing the backside of a reed helps the reed last longer, asit is more resistant to water and therefore does not get easily water soaked and thus collapse.
Over polishing imparts a brittle, rather harsh sound to the reed.
I never sand the underside of a reed. When I make my own reeds, I sand and polish the underside before cutting the vamp.
Walter Grabner
www.clarinetxpress.com
New and Used Buffet Clarinets
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Author: LJBraaten
Date: 2013-08-14 15:16
Walter, your cane must be very stable. Despite my precautions, many of my commercially produced reeds warp to the point that they require sanding to play properly.
Laurie
Laurie (he/him)
Post Edited (2013-08-14 15:31)
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