Author: orchestr
Date: 2015-08-05 04:02
Thank you to everyone for your input. I have also heard that Vandorens are all cut the same, THEN flex-tested by a gauge to determine strength. I've never measured reeds if different strengths myself, so I don't know.
Tom, it does make sense that for the spongier inner-tube cane, you'd need a slightly thicker tip, and also that you can only go so far when you thin the tip. I remember reading an article by Charles West ("Some Comments on Single Reeds", The Clarinet, December 1998) where he says the tip thickness that seems to work best for him is .003-.005", with the corners of the tip around .005-007" (he explains in the article why the corners shouldn't be the same as the tip). Great article, I encourage everyone to check it out if they can.
I wanted to clarify that my initial question was about tip thickness with all other factors being equal, as Mr. West puts it. Of course the thickness of the blank, length of the vamp, slope of the vamp, slope to the sides, mouthpiece facing/model/material/rail thickness/age, instrument, embouchure, etc. each make a significant difference. What I'm asking is, on one speciic setup, if you have two reeds that are virtually identical, one with a thicker tip, and one with a thinner tip, what is the difference with regard to articulation? For me, with a Vandoren Traditional reed (which I've found to have thicknesses around .005-.006"), thinning the tip with an ATG block improves both the clarity, response, and speed of articulation, often without any negative side effects. The only time this doesn't work, and this is going back to what Tom said, is when a reed is already on the soft side, thinning the tip often makes the tip close off entirely with any embouchure pressure. Those are my 2 cents.
To quote Mr. West's article, "Interestingly and ironically, thinning the tip of a reed often darkens the sound, all other factors being left equal. ... A relatively thick heart and a relatively thin tip makes a more dark but still colorful sound than a thicker tip and thinner heart." So maybe the answer to my question really is, "It depends."
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