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Re: Reed Adjustment

Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2015-10-11 07:26

A couple of points:

First, a reed that's warped in the way you describe is not retrievable, at least in my opinion. But there is also a question to be asked about why they've warped that way. Normal warping occurs lengthwise along the back (flat) side - the edges pull up, leaving a high area straight down the middle. This is caused mostly by uneven drying time between the front (vamp) side and the back. The warp you've described - toward the mouthpiece (I assume the facing) - can really only be caused by applying rather extreme force against the vamp, forcing it more or less unrelentingly toward the curve. Except maybe with an extremely soft reed, it's hard for me to imagine how a reed would take that shape under any normal playing conditions. But, having warped in that way, I wouldn't recommend wasting any time trying to learn how to correct it - the reed's elasticity is gone and no adjustment you make is going to restore it.

Reed adjustment is one of the most difficult things, I think, to learn by reading about it. You really need to see adjusting techniques in action. If a teacher can't be found, videos are the next best sources. I've just gotten back from a trip and haven't been in the house long enough to look anything up as suggestions. There are Tom Ridenour's videos, which are of course specifically meant to illustrate using ATG techniques. They *are* a place to *start*. There are probably others - maybe Ricardo Morales has posted something. Mark Nuccio has a couple of videos on YouTube about reeds - mostly, I think about choosing and conditioning them, but maybe also about adjusting them. I think you have to begin by seeing the techniques.

After you have the basic techniques, it isn't so much a matter of "What should I do," but one of "What's wrong with the reed," or more to the point 99% of the time "Where is the reed too stiff?" If the reed isn't vibrating as you want it to, you need to find where the wood lacks enough give and remove small amounts of material leaving a smooth surface - no bumps to interfere (Roger Salander called them "fences" in an article several decades ago in Clarinet). The trick is to find the spots. You can't add wood to correct soft spots, so generally, unless the reed is overall just slightly too soft (when clipping may be useful), it's best to forget about reeds that have collapsed.

Karl

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