Author: Fuzzy
Date: 2017-04-28 21:41
In college, my instructor took me up to #5 Vandorens. I never liked the sound. Other college instructors I had, seemed to be happy with all the students being at #4. I loved #4's and stayed there throughout college.
However, after college, I switched away from the Pyne mouthpiece I had been using and found a #4 required way more breath to sound right on my new mouthpiece. It made a beautiful sound, but exhausted me - everything became just a little bit forced. I ended up changing to a different clarinet (and moved the mouthpiece with me), and found that a #4 reed required so much air that the A and Ab keys on the bridge would actually blow open as I tried to play certain tones.
I could have put stronger springs on the A/Ab keys, but I liked their action the way they were...so I simply went down to a #3 reed. It played amazingly! Just like my #4s did on the other clarinet/mouthpiece combination! As time went on, I realized that I liked my heavily used #3's better than my new #3's - so I went down another half step. Yep - 2 1/2s! I love them. For this rig, I use 2 1/2's (though when I go down to humid sea level locations - like New Orleans/New York, etc I have to go back up a half strength to get the same feel/response.)
So, really, I'd suggest using the reed numbering system as a guide more than a rule. You know what feels right, what the sound is you're looking for, and other specifics about what you want to sound like. Find the correct reed which provides that sound/feel on the mouthpiece/clarinet combination you want to use - don't be influenced by the number on the reed. In my case, my training to use harder and harder reeds made me too conscious of what "I should" be doing - and it made the journey to softer reeds way more tedious than it needed to be. Don't worry about the reed number - just worry about the sound/feel you're looking for - then stick with whatever reed and strength of reed achieved that for you.
Best of luck! Enjoy the journey!
Fuzzy
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The Clarinet BBoard
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