 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: elec
Date: 2014-08-10 04:50
I use Vandoren Traditional #3 Reeds.
How long does a reed last after first opening / first playing / days and days of playing on that one reed/ rotating between several reeds.
What is the best way to practise? Use different reeds everyday and have around 6 in your case? Or Stick to a reed you like and use that only and swap reeds when that reed is old.
I feel really bad when I throw out reeds i like, how long should I play them for before throwing them out? Any signs on when a reed should be thrown out?
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2014-08-10 05:07
Results vary depending on the brand and how you break them in. I rotate a box of ten: basically 6 to 7 playable reeds; each day go to the next until I wind up back at the first reed. This pattern breaks for performances where I'll use the best of the bunch at that time.
Usually a rotation lasts a month, maybe two. I go by the sound. Once they begin to take on a brittle sound I am breaking in the next box.
If you can get Legere synthetic reed to play for you alright, a single reed can last three or four months.
...........Paul Aviles
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Author: pewd
Date: 2014-08-10 06:28
They last from 3 seconds to 3 months, varies.
Have you discussed reed break-in and rotation and adjustment with your teacher?
I tell students to play a reed 5 minutes the first day, 5-10 the second day, 10-15 the 3rd. Then decide if you will allow it to live or not. After the 3rd day I'll mess around with it a bit, sandpaper and a knife. Or if its hopeless, into the compost pile it goes. Sometimes I make that decision after a few seconds, sometimes after trying to break it in and adjust it for a few days.
If its going to be useable, I put it my rotation and rotate to a different reed every few days. You need multiple good reeds in your reed case - otherwise you're out of luck if you break your only good one.
You thrown them out when they stop working properly - tone, response, tuning, articulation - whenever somethings not right, switch reeds.
Most of my students go through a box of 10 every 4-6 weeks.
- Paul Dods
Dallas, Texas
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Author: 47tim
Date: 2014-08-10 07:28
I use Vandoren 56 3.5 reeds, and I use a reed a week then trash it. I find that the ease of articulation only lasts a week, and the sound quality is best the first week. Slowly reeds deteriorate to a 3 then to a 2.5 to a 2 and so on the more you use them.
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Author: Barry Vincent
Date: 2014-08-10 08:16
To make cane reeds last longer , make sure to clean them after you use them , as in dip in water or preferably under a running tap to remove all saliva. (= slight trace of acid ect ) This also prevents them from smelling bad , especially in hot weather. It's surprising how many students will not get into the habit of doing that. And this procedure also includes the mouthpiece which will also start to smell bad after a while with all that decomposing saliva in it.
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Author: ErezK
Date: 2014-08-10 13:49
I think the benefits of brushing your teeth prior to playing are obvious in this context.
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Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2014-08-10 17:39
I disagree that they are obvious. Please explain the benefit in the context of reed life.
Karl
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2014-08-10 19:03
And I disagree that 1) it removes saliva and 2) that brushing your teeth has anything to do with it.
The reed is a piece of grass (or wood if you prefer). Therefore it is comprised of a lots of tubes (cells) that fill up with whatever liquid happens to be around. So, you may be able to remove any spurious particles that happen to adhere to the outside of the reed while you played, but you cannot affect what winds up interior to the reed.
Saliva: Saliva is part of our digestive system and as such it ALWAYS contains enzymes that will aid in breaking down foreign material placed in the mouth. This unfortunately does also include reeds. No amount of brushing your teeth will change the chemical makeup of your saliva.
................Paul Aviles
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2014-08-10 20:33
...but not brushing your teeth will make the read smell and taste quite funky after a while...
Having said that, my reeds last about 30 to 40 service hours, depending on how many outdoors gigs (IOW louder than usual) I have.
--
Ben
Post Edited (2014-08-10 20:33)
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Author: Philip Caron
Date: 2014-08-13 18:32
Barring accidents, mine last 2 to 9 months, played 3 hours or more a day. I wash reeds after every play.
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Author: BobD
Date: 2014-08-13 20:07
I'm recalling the reed situation during WWII when we continued to play reeds well past their expected life. And the white plastic ones were no solution. I believe I used a nail clipper quite often and never babied the reed by washing it or brushing my teeth before playing. I currently soak my reed before and after playing in a water plus hydrogen peroxide solution. I do believe that one can clean out the "tubes" of the reed...to a degree... by sucking on the butt end with the tapered part immersed in the above solution. I quit playing mine when the tip gets limp or a corner does.
Bob Draznik
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Author: ErezK
Date: 2014-08-13 22:03
The way I see it is as follows:
After brushing your teeth, there should be no more food particles in your saliva as well as much less digestive enzymes that are produced when there is food in the mouth.
As far as the reed is concerned, the same enzymes can break make up (or part of it) and the food particles can feed bacteria on the read.
My teacher back in the day also mentioned that sugars and other food particles in the breath tend to land on the bads which being damp and warm anyway make for a good breeding ground for bacteria.
It made sense for me.
In any case, brushing your teeth one extra time a day is never a bad idea.
P.s.
I knew a guy that played on a crystal mouthpiece and was not exactly a walking advertisement for proper dental hygiene... his mouthpiece looked like a lab experiment that went wrong...
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Author: ErezK
Date: 2014-08-13 22:03
The way I see it is as follows:
After brushing your teeth, there should be no more food particles in your saliva as well as much less digestive enzymes that are produced when there is food in the mouth.
As far as the reed is concerned, the same enzymes can break make up (or part of it) and the food particles can feed bacteria on the read.
My teacher back in the day also mentioned that sugars and other food particles in the breath tend to land on the bads which being damp and warm anyway make for a good breeding ground for bacteria.
It made sense for me.
In any case, brushing your teeth one extra time a day is never a bad idea.
P.s.
I knew a guy that played on a crystal mouthpiece and was not exactly a walking advertisement for proper dental hygiene... his mouthpiece looked like a lab experiment that went wrong...
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Author: Barry Vincent
Date: 2014-08-14 03:28
It's interesting how the basic procedures of old have been forgotten , in this case the preparation of new reeds.
To close up the tiny 'tubes' within the cane you 'burnished' the dry reed by laying it on a piece of plate glass , positioning near the edge of the glass, but making sure that the reed edge did not overhang the glass, and then , using a ROUND pen, you pressed on the reed, from the lower area of the cut, towards the tip. This very effectively closed up the tiny 'tubes' making the reed far more less likely to become 'water logged'. At the same time , this procedure seemed to prevent the tip from warping after it dried out after use.
Whilst having the plate glass out, you also got a piece of newspaper paper, a section that hadn't any printers ink on it. (Poisonous) and you polished the back of the reed to make it shiny. This also helped to make the reed water resistant.
When I was using cane reeds before I went over to the synthetics, I always did this with new reeds and they definitely lasted a lot longer.
BJV
"The Clarinet is not a horn"
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Author: BobD
Date: 2014-08-14 16:52
I still do that Barry. The problem today, at least in the U.S. is that "paper" has so much recycled plastic in it that I use 3x5 card stock. Your procedure still leaves open tubes in the thinner areas of the reed including the tip...AND...if you immerse the butt end during the pre-soak water still gets in the closed tubes. Whatever it accomplishes I still support your procedure.
Bob Draznik
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Author: Barry Vincent
Date: 2014-08-14 22:41
Hi BobD, When I 'burnished' the reed with the round object , usually a pen, I used a reasonable amount of pressure. This did seem to seal up all the tiny tubes over all the cut. I know this because when I tested the reed after I did this, I no longer saw the tiny bubbles appearing on the surface of the cut.
When I pre-soaked the reed to make it pliable I never immersed the entire reed in the water, just the cut. Therefore , water never got into the tiny tubes at the butt end. Quite often , I only wetted the reed in my mouth whilst putting the Clarinet together.
Question. What are those tiny tubes within a cane reed called ? I can't find any information about this anywhere.
BJV
"The Clarinet is not a horn"
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Author: maxopf
Date: 2014-08-14 23:16
I believe those are the xylem and phloem that transport water up and down the plant while it's still alive.
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Author: BobD
Date: 2014-08-15 01:44
I guess what I'm wondering now is why we wet the reed in the first place. I've never tried to play a reed without soaking it either in my mouth or water. And if we soak it to get water into those cells what happens if we close them up. Is the real purpose of wetting to seal the reed on the mp lay?
Bob Draznik
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Author: Barry Vincent
Date: 2014-08-15 02:06
Thanks for that Maxopf
Bob, Yes , you could be right there in wondering why one really has to wet the reed before use. I guess there's a fine line between wetting a cane reed enough to make it pliable and having a cane reed that becomes water logged with the associated minute swelling during use.
In practice, I guess that the only part of the reed that really needs to be pliable is the tip and lower part of the cut. Therefore, I think that just putting the reed in your mouth whilst putting the Clarinet together is probably moistening a cane reed enough to allow it to flex easily.
As for the problem of the tip of a cane reed becoming warped after it dries out ,that's most likely the result of a cane reed becoming water logged during use. There are those handy reed holders (plastic or Aluminium) that keep the tip flattened. I still have several of those.
BJV
"The Clarinet is not a horn"
Skyfacer
Post Edited (2014-08-15 02:28)
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