 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: the-clarinet-girl
Date: 2013-11-27 17:26
I'm a senior in high school and I've been working with my reeds a lot everyday due to my independent study in clarinet. However, I am noticing that my reeds seem to be getting weaker faster and that's not happened before to me. I've been using Vandoren 3 1/2 strength reeds since my sophomore year. Would you recommend that I try using a stronger strength reed such as a 3 1/2 + or 4? Or could it be something else.
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Author: BobD
Date: 2013-11-27 18:21
If, by "working with my reeds" means you've been taking the knife to them.....then you are what is weakening them.......
Bob Draznik
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Author: kdk
Date: 2013-11-27 18:23
the-clarinet-girl wrote:
> Would
> you recommend that I try using a stronger strength reed such as
> a 3 1/2 + or 4? Or could it be something else.
The generic answer to a question that begins with "Should I try..." is, certainly, try it and see what the result is. You do need to know what to look for, especially what would indicate that whatever you've tried isn't producing a good result. If you need to strain or apply a lot more pressure to a stiffer reed and can't play on it comfortably, or if it makes your sound fuzzy or inflexible, the reed is probably too stiff and you'd be better off going back to your old strength and looking for a different solution.
Cyclopathic is correct in suggesting you check the manufacturer's recommended reed strength. It will typically include a range. It isn't that the recommended range is any kind of requirement or that the mouthpiece won't work with reeds outside the range, but most of the time you can find a comfortable fit somewhere among the recommended strengths.
Reeds can seem to lose resilience and close more easily when the weather changes drastically from warm to cold. Also, some reed brands seem to hold up better over time than others, so if you've changed brands recently that might explain a difference. Also, all cane reeds change as the begin first to break in and then to age. If you are playing your reeds to death from the very first time you use each one, you may need to adopt some routine for breaking reeds in more gradually and learn to adjust them as they change.
Any box of reeds will contain reeds with a range of stiffness - even at the right nominal strength some of them in the box may be too light to begin with.
The best way to find the right strength is to experiment. You may end up right where you started, but you'll know more about the possibilities.
Karl
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Author: the-clarinet-girl
Date: 2013-11-28 17:11
Thank you for these helpful responses. I must say, I did not know that mouthpieces had a specific range of reed strengths that corresponded with them. I've been using a vandoren 5RVLyre for about a year now and seeing that four is in the range for those mouthpieces, I feel a little less nervous about trying them now. Also, Karl, in response to what you said about trying to start some kind of reed routine, I've been doing exactly that since the beginning of my independent study, starting two reeds and playing five minutes on each of them one day, then ten each the next and going up in five minute increments until 20-30 minutes. I've also started breaking in new reeds ever since the first snow here because my private teacher recommended i do that. But it's seemed that since I started my reed routine, my reeds have gotten weaker so it's been worrying me a bit. But thank you all for these helpful replies!
-Lauren
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Author: cyclopathic
Date: 2013-11-28 19:17
it also depends on what you are trying to accomplish by going to stronger reed. Stronger reed helps with upper altissimo and improves embouchure.. maybe at expense of flexibility and good tone.
try to use 4s for practice and save 3.5 for special occasions, s.a. auditions and concerts, etc. If you find at some point that 3.5 is too much step down, you could try V-12 #4; they are ~ 1/4 softer then Blue Box.
Also Rico Grand Concert Evolution 3.5 would be btw VD Blue 3.5 and 4. Great tone if it works for you. Here is the reed comparison chart good luck
http://www.ricoreeds.com/ricoStrengthComparisonChart.Page
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Author: the-clarinet-girl
Date: 2013-11-29 03:52
Part of what I am currently trying to do is actually getting a better altissimo sound without it just being a squeak (though, to quote a professor I've worked with, altissimo is just controlled squeaking) since I'm playing the Poulenc Sonata and it's been bugging me that my high Gb/F#'s sound like weak little squeaks with some pitch to them. I will have to try the V12s, I've seen people use them and I've been curious to try them. Also, thank you for making me aware of these rico Grand Concerts, I'll have to look into getting a box of those as well.
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Author: cyclopathic
Date: 2013-11-29 16:31
run search the reeds had been discussed to death so many times.
the Grand Concerts Select come in 3 flavors: Traditional (=VD Blue), Thick Blank (~V-12) and Evolution (supposed to be like 56 Rue?). And they work well with Vandoren MPCs, cost less and seem to last longer.
in side by side Evo vs VD Blue, Vandorens sounded thin and superficial to my ears pretty much from bottom to top. But this is personal; they don't seem to work for everyone.
Also last but not least have you looked at ligatures? Something like Rovner Mark III or Star could make difference. Metal ligs alot more sensitive and take a few tries to get reed sound good, were with Rovners you just put and go.
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Author: the-clarinet-girl
Date: 2013-12-04 13:33
Hm, I'll have to see about trying some Grand Concerts, saving money is always good. And I've been off metal ligatures since my sophomore year. Someone stepped on my metal one and my band teacher told me to go to Rovner and I don't think I could ever go back. Best ligature I've ever used.
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