Author: WhitePlainsDave
Date: 2017-08-11 21:55
Karl answered the first question, I will attempt to embellish upon the second.
Apart from the synthetic market (i.e. Legere), where precise quality control can be brought to the table in the creation of the reed product, I hold the belief, having tried countless brands and models over 40 years, that the gradation of cane reeds, given its evolution into a typical 5 point industry scale, is, at the quarter strength level of precision, more marketing than substance.
If that's anti-vendor--who BTW is doing nothing more than the consumer wants, and competing with their fellow vendor to bring us the best product-- I'm about to come to the vendor's defense shortly.
I feel this way because the techniques used to measure strength are, while perhaps the best method of automated testing barring all else anyone has devised, they in my opinion bear little correlation to how a reed will play once put into service.
I say this because the typical test involves applying a known air pressure, at a known distance, to a dry [and cut] reed, and measuring the degree to which the reed deflects: based on the same principles as an eye Glaucoma test.
All strengths of a cane brand are cut identically. It is mother nature that controls strength.
Once the reed is wet, which breaks down [by design] the fibers, subjected to the material stress of vibration, and the cycle repeated, its correlation with the strength the factory assigned to it is, I believe, at best only basic basis of comparison.
I believe, in light of these factors, that the best a player can do is purchase a strength slightly greater than their comfort, gleaned from testing, and then adjust it down. This methodology not only acknowledges the factors discussed above, but embraces and uses to the player's advantage acceptance of the fact that a so called "good reed," defined here as right out of the box, requiring absolutely no adjustment, at least in my experience, is both akin in frequency to a winning lottery ticket and...should be what a player expects, no disrespect to the vendor.
Why would a uniformly cut reed, with precision, at least in Vandoren's case, to less than a human hair, yield anything but a starting point for user adjustment, rather than a consistent product, given the raw material, even in the best of cane for play, is a highly variable substance?
That others may site greater numbers of good reeds, as defined above, within a box, is a product of I feel 2 factors: opinions vary as we all have slightly different expectations for a reed that are difficult to quantify and standardize, and that we play works of different difficulty that place different demands upon our reeds to deliver.
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One post script note: for me, adjustment of a reed is not something done simply before the reed is put into service. It may be an ongoing process necessary before each time it is used.
Post Edited (2017-08-11 22:00)
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