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Just some random questions: biting, reed strength, tarnish, etc

Author: GenEric
Date: 2018-01-16 00:14

Happy MLK day!

I just got back from a long winter break and finished a long rehearsal with a guest conductor. Rehearsal hours were long so as the conductor was talking to the brass, even though I should've been listening, I got some time to do some thinking and reflect on some random questions.

Tarnish) During the winter break, I sent my instrument to a music store to get a yearly check up. It's a pretty popular music store in my area so my instrument was there for a good 2 weeks. During this time, the clarinet built up some pretty nasty tarnish some that is even blue and brown in color, especially on the trill keys so it's pretty hard to reach. I don't mind it but if I don't get it cleaned, will it damage or remove the plating over time if I don't get it professionally cleaned? How do I prevent this in the mean time? I'm pretty sure i'ts my mouthpiece because most of the tarnish is in areas where it is close to the mouthpiece in the case.

reed strength/biting) In the band, our repertoire consisted of 2 slow pieces. I noticed that during those pieces, my mouth was tired and my lower lip hurt because I was biting on some of the notes. I also noticed that although my upper register sounds very full, my lower register notes were dull and fuzzy and while initiating a note, my tongue would come off the reed and there was a spitty sound 50% of the time. I believe those are all symptoms of having a reed too hard. Although I'd like to move to a softer reed, I think it won't let me sound as good on the upper register and play altissimo notes.

Thoughts?

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