 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: BGBG
Date: 2015-06-05 01:25
If going from say a 2 to a 3 reed, what exactly is different? Is it more finger accuracy, embouchure tighter or more controlled, amount of mouthpiece in mouth, treatment of reed or position on mouthpiece, amount of air pressure, or what? Trying to understand when and why of higher strength reeds, benefits, etc. If use a 2 now or maybe a 2.5 what do I do differently in order to use a 3 ? Tried a 2 just then and OK.Tried a 3 and it closed up in upper register B,C,D.
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Author: Caroline Smale
Date: 2015-06-05 03:28
The only difference is the resistance of the reed, the higher the strength the greater the resistance.
You choose the strength to match the characteristics of the mouthpiece and your style of playing. You do not change any other characteristics of your playing etc.
For every mouthpiece and embouchure there is an optimum reed strength and that and only that is correct for that specific situation.
A player does not gravitate from a 1 constantly towards a 5. Assuming a mature and practiced embouchure, they choose what works for them and stick with that.
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2015-06-05 03:40
The bottom line is this: if you are achieving a good sound, good range, and accurate articulation with your present set-up (and that takes the mouthpiece into consideration which is the other half of the reed strength equation) there would be no need to move to a different strength reed.
For me I would say that if you have a compressed dynamic range where you are struggling to play in the louder spectrum of things, then you may want to see if a stronger reed works for you. Always move up in small increments. Start with a reed a half strength more than what you have (as long the manufacturer you use has that available).
Your concerns:
o Mouthpiece reed has no affect on your fingers
o You decide what your embouchure does, NOT the reed
o All reeds should start out as centered (up/down, side to side) as possible
o The actual amount of air expended determines your dynamic. You should ALWAYS feel that "pushing" from your gut (at ALL dynamics)
o There is ONE ideal spot for your embouchure on your mouthpiece based on the point where the reed and mouthpiece come together. You want to be as close to that as possible (ideally, adjustment from there can be done but you should know where that point is). You determine that with a "SQUAWK" test. Place the mouthpiece just barely in your mouth (as close to the tip as practical) and begin to play an open "G." Keep playing that open "G" while you start taking in more and more mouthpiece. At some point you'll get a big, uncontrolled "SQUAWK." Back off (back toward the tip) ever so slightly and THAT is the ideal spot for your embouchure on your mouthpiece - no matter what reed brand or strength you use.
..............Paul Aviles
P.S. I am in full agreement with all Mr. Smale has to say about this.
Post Edited (2015-06-05 03:42)
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Author: WhitePlainsDave
Date: 2015-06-06 00:08
O.P. "If going from say a 2 to a 3 reed, what exactly is different?"
I "hear" you O.P. on your desire to know, from a performance standpoint, how strengths differ.
Since that's been addressed, I thought I might also add that at the factory, what exactly is different about different strength reeds is "mother nature."
To restate, in all brands I know, a particular model of reed (e.g. Vandoren V21's for Bb/A clarinet) are cut identically. The reeds are then tested against some machine that measures resistance (e.g. a machine that blows a controlled puff of air, like a eye glaucoma testing machine, against the reed to see how much it bends.)
These indentically cut and strength tested/differing reeds are then sorted by such "mother nature given strength" into the appropriate strength boxes.
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Author: fskelley
Date: 2015-06-06 05:15
That's right, Dave- which means that a 3 adjusted down to 2.5 is thinner and really cannot play the same as a "real" 2.5. Which is better is up to you, but they're different. That will even happen with the variation within a box all the "same" strength after you adjust them all to play with similar resistance, some will be thinner than others. It is what it is.
My current anecdotal evidence suggests that Vandoren blue box 3's adjusted softer chirp less than 2.5's with less or no adjustment. Repeatability is so elusive.
Stan in Orlando
EWI 4000S with modifications
Post Edited (2015-06-06 05:18)
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