Author: WhitePlainsDave
Date: 2017-07-23 23:19
"Why is it you can work on a reed, balance it, and it plays great. Then the
next day it's garbage again. "
I don't know. And I keep mine in a humidity controlled environment when not in play.
I will say this. To play a reed is to damage it. We're asking it to vibrate 1000s of times in even the shortest of play sessions, and any moving part is subject to wear and tear.
Maybe, in part, it does become worse while we play but we don't notice it given the gradual nature with which this happens during play.
This does not explain it all, at least for me.
As a young player I witnessed the older more experienced ones come to rehearsals with plenty of lead time to work on used reeds prior to play. I learned to accept this as part of that which often needs to be done, at least for me, before play sessions.
Included in this might be the repositioning of a reed ever so slightly to the left or right to account for perceived asymmetries in strength or mouthpiece on either side of the midline of its length, or up and down from the mouthpiece tip to account for overall weakness and strength respectfully.
I also accept imperfection but cannot easily quantify for comparison purposes my patience level for this as compared to others, nor is that level constant from one day to the next, nor can I say less subject to variability than the average player.
I think that smart clarinet players are pragmatists. If they have a solution to a problem, like an alternate fingering or a pre-play routine to get reeds back up to speed, they tend to not focus their time on why certain things like reed play breaks down between concurrent play sessions happens, as curiosity is a time sink that if it doesn't lead to understanding that enhances play, is time better spent playing--not that I am in any way against knowledge for knowledge's sake.
I rarely experience this effect directly as I am always rotating reeds. OF course I do experience it indirectly as whatever reed I choose was in fact played previously even if it wasn't yesterday.
For me at least, this is why I am so happy Legere Euros exist. Despite all their limitations, they are my safety net when I just can't get reeds working on a particular day. They prevent me from the frustration that can ruin the concentration needed for a good practice session.
Surely, someone will come out with the reed vibration storage case, claiming this constant vibration keeps reeds playing as good as you left them.
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The Clarinet BBoard
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