 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: WhitePlainsDave
Date: 2015-12-30 22:18
Okay..give me a reed and I'm pretty sure I could turn it into something that no player would find appealing, even if it was within the strength category desired of its tester, and even if it was excellent out of the box.
Mere wear and tear, or deliberate physical abuse, clipping, and counter intuitive sanding--I am sure I don't stand alone in my ability to make a reed worse.
To point, a "lousy reed" is an assessment I suspect could be concurred among many players trying it.
But that said, I am curious if people's opinions about any particular random reed, adjusting of course for strength, shows consistency in its like/dislike among different players.
If we took, say, 100 "advanced" players playing the same strength reed, and gave then say, 100 Vandoren V12's for them to try--considering sterility and the idea that each person shares their fair number of previous players of the reeds, what do you think the results might be?
Maybe it's 100 of these reeds that have been broken in first, of course by different players. Clearly my design methodology needs tweaking.
Of course we all play different mouthpiece curves, even if using the same make and model mouthpiece, and we all grab the mouthpiece slightly differently. But I wonder, adjusting for strength, how often one player's idea of a gem of a reed is another player's idea of firewood kindling, or how consistently a "good reed" is considered a "good reed" among the masses of players trying it.
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2015-12-31 13:51
Good question indeed!!!!
I think there is a small percentage of the "specificity" as you described involved in the judgment of reeds - how one approaches the thing, type of mouthpiece etc.
BUT...... I think a good reed is a GOOD reed no matter how you slice it. I recall (just as ONE example) my "moment" with Brad Behn at the Oklahoma clarinet conference a few years ago. When testing a few of his mouthpieces, he first "politely insisted" that I use a number 3 strength reed that he had pre-selected that morning. He was right on several counts. ONE: It is ideal to try a mouthpiece with a "newer" reed, one that has not adapted to a particular facing. TWO: I used reeds that were too hard (number 4 in my case). THREE: It is important to have a GOOD reed when trying out mouthpieces.
So here was a case where someone else not only selected a reed out of a box for another player, but also DETERMINED for that other player what strength was a better match for a certain mouthpiece !!!!!
Of course, I'm sure there are plenty of other examples that I've even forgotten over the years, but the bottom line is that you NEED a reed that will respond evenly across the tip and the down the vibrating length. Otherwise you can get a node (otherwise known as a squeak) or other such irregularities of sound. That is not specific to an individual player, it is specific to the reed.
.................Paul Aviles
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2015-12-31 17:01
Yes, excellent question. The number of variables (involving not only different mouthpieces but different mouths!) would make it difficult to set up protocols for a fair and truly scientific test. For instance, my best reeds for a B45 mouthpiece won't even fit onto some of my vintage mouthpieces.
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
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Author: Bennett ★2017
Date: 2016-01-02 03:36
To judge by the numerous threads here about 'what's the best reed', I think there would be little or no consensus. Given that folks can't even begin to agree on what brand/model to buy, it seems awfully unlikely that there'd be much agreement, even if all the OP's provisos and conditions were met. Perhaps, at best, these 100 wise men and women could come to some agreement that a particular reed was a stinker and suitable for kindling - but best - I don't think so.
Could 100 folks agree on what color was best, what tuna fish salad sandwich was best, what color tie to wear to work, what clarinet player was most skilled, who makes the best clarinets?
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2016-01-02 04:29
I think the thrust of the question is......if you give a reed that someone loves to them and you say, "This is a great reed." Would that next person also think that particular reed is a good one? I believe the answer is yes. Reeds either vibrate evenly or they don't. If they do, then it is a good reed. They can also be impeded by poor cane (fibers that do not vibrated correctly). Again, this situation is beyond subjectivity........it's good or it's bad.
................Paul Aviles
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Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2016-01-02 06:01
Bennett wrote:
> To judge by the numerous threads here about 'what's the best
> reed', I think there would be little or no consensus.
Well, the question wasn't put in terms of "best," only "good." If you want to look for agreement on whether a reed within an appropriate strength range for a given mouthpiece is vibrant enough to produce a live sound and to respond to articulation, I agree with Paul that you would get agreement among a good portion of competent players. If you asked whether others agree with you that a reed is really ideal, you would certainly get some takers, but far fewer. Most players have idiosyncratic expectations of reeds they're happy to play on. But there are lots of good reeds that are a little too hard, a little too soft, a little too covered sounding, a little too bright, a little too free blowing or push back a little too much, etc..., that are worth adjusting or adjusting to that don't feel ideal at first.
Karl
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2016-01-02 17:56
I do think we could easily reach a consensus on which reeds are so bad they deserve the wall-test.
For newcomers: The wall-test is the way to avoid accumulating a whole drawer-full of reeds we don't want to play but hesitate to throw out when we've paid good money for them. To perform the wall-test, hold the reed by the bark-end and crush the tip into the wall, hard. No more need to question whether it's playable. Just bin it and forget it.
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
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Author: fuzzystradjazz
Date: 2016-01-02 22:12
Shoot - I can't even agree with myself on reeds. One day, I throw a reed into the "Lemon" pile, and a week later, I might pull that same reed out and ask myself, "Why on earth did I throw this great reed into the "lemon" pile?
;^)>>>
Fuzzy
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Author: fskelley
Date: 2016-01-02 22:34
fuzzystradjazz wrote:
> Shoot - I can't even agree with myself on reeds. One day, I
> throw a reed into the "Lemon" pile, and a week later, I might
> pull that same reed out and ask myself, "Why on earth did I
> throw this great reed into the "lemon" pile?
Happens to me all the time. But sometimes I figure it's not me, it's the reed that changed. And I wonder why- humidity, it needed to be played and then rested, phase of the moon, Murphy? All this is why I am loathe to discard anything.
So, among all the characteristics of the perfect reed, let us add, "Plays consistently from the first toot until the last gasp, then completely and utterly dies so the player will know not to try even one more note." And just for the record, I have found Legeres to be every bit as inconsistent over time as cane reeds. I would love to hear of another playable synthetic that IS consistent over time, but only if so reported by another player who also found Legeres varied over time. Sorry that might be a tad difficult to process, I made it as clear as I could, LOL.
Stan in Orlando
EWI 4000S with modifications
Post Edited (2016-01-02 22:43)
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