 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Anonymoose
Date: 2020-08-09 06:45
I have been unsuccessful with balancing my reeds, either with a knife or sandpaper.
My main issue is I do not know which part of the reed to take off.
When I test the reed for balance using the method of tilting the mouthpiece, I can figure out which side is denser, but I do not know where exactly to take off cane. Only an inch on the denser side from the tip downwards? or disregard the tip (because it is too thin already) and go take from the middle of the denser side? Or do I take off cane from the dense side?
This method of discerning which side of the reed is denser does not tell me much, only that it is denser on one side.
Sometimes I manage to balance a reed which at that moment plays fine. but a day later the reed plays worse than before I adjusted it.
Any tips would be greatly appreciated!
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Author: kdk
Date: 2020-08-09 07:15
Anonymoose wrote:
> Sometimes I manage to balance a reed which at that moment plays
> fine. but a day later the reed plays worse than before I
> adjusted it.
I've inverted your points because this one is easier. You may be working on the reeds too long at one time. As the reed absorbs more water (as you play it) its characteristics will change. You can end up adjusting for effects that are caused more by over-soaking the cane than by imbalance in the structure itself, so when you play on it the next day when it has dried out, it plays differently from the way it played when it was probably waterlogged. Work a little at a time, then go on to a different reed, hopefully one that's a little more aged and less likely to soak up too much.
> I have been unsuccessful with balancing my reeds, either with a
> knife or sandpaper.
> My main issue is I do not know which part of the reed to take
> off.
That's the main issue everyone has to deal with. There are lots of articles to look at both online and in books that tell you which parts of the reed affect which parts of the response and sound. A Google search for "balancing clarinet reeds" or something similar will probably get hits for both text articles and videos. Brad Behn has a number of videos on YouTube that address any number of issues of both reed balancing and mouthpiece adjustment. He's very clear and isn't selling anything. Tom Ridenour also has several videos about reed adjustment on YouTube focusing on the use of his ATG system.
IMO one mistake I made for a long time as a younger player was to try to adjust reeds that were too hard down to a more manageable strength. I've found that I have much more success when I start with reeds that are the right strength to begin with and only need a little adjusting instead of a major redesign.
> When I test the reed for balance using the method of tilting
> the mouthpiece, I can figure out which side is denser, but I do
> not know where exactly to take off cane.
In general, the parts that need to vibrate freely are the areas alongside the heart maybe a third of the way down the length of the vamp. You try to eliminate any "borders" - places where, when you flex it, you can see obvious steps in the resistance, places where the flex stops along a visible line. The sides should flex evenly.
Look up as many video and text explanations as you can find. Players may use different techniques, but I think most of them are trying to accomplish the same things, so pay more attention to what they're doing than to how they're doing it.
Karl
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2020-08-09 16:57
If you look on my website on my articles about reeds you will find a diagram as well as several suggestions on how, where and when to balance a reed. With a little time and experimenting you should be able to achieve reasonable success. One of the big secrets is patience while breaking a reed in and taking baby steps in adjuctments. Check it out, it's helped a lot of people.
ESP eddiesclarinet.com
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Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2020-08-15 13:54
Can you email me with your phone number? It's often not easy to balance reeds even if the reeds are already balanced. Most of the time the quality of the cane depicts how the reeds behave. This is a topic that often takes months or even years to learn how to do, but I can surely give you some pointers, leading you on the right path.
Fred Ormand has a very good book on adjusting reeds.
Designer of - Vintage 1940 Cicero Mouthpieces and the La Vecchia mouthpieces
Yamaha Artist 2015
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Author: Ed
Date: 2020-08-15 16:42
Brad Behn has posted a number of videos on his Facebook page about reed adjustment. You may want to check those out. (you don't need to be signed up to Facebook to be able to watch them)
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Author: Ken Lagace
Date: 2020-08-15 17:40
Do you know the Ridenour trick, of playing an open 'G' and slightly rocking the mouthpiece left and right? If one way is duller than the other way, then one side is heavier and needs lightening. Which ever side is down is damped and not vibrating and the other (up) side is vibrating. A quick test is to slightly move the heavier side toward the middle of the mouthpiece and see if the dullness goes away. It can be played that way, I mark an arrow on the tip, or the heavy side can be lightly sanded.
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Author: kdk
Date: 2020-08-15 21:27
Ken Lagace wrote:
> Do you know the Ridenour trick, of playing an open 'G' and
> slightly rocking the mouthpiece left and right? If one way is
> duller than the other way, then one side is heavier and needs
> lightening.
One problem I've always found in Tom Ridenour's approach is that imbalance isn't always in the tip. And sanding over the tip with each stroke, no matter how far down the vamp you go, runs the risk of thinning (and weakening) the tip area too much while not getting enough cane off of the areas farther down that often are responsible for stuffy response and sound.
Once you've decided which side is stuffier - more resistant - sometimes you have to find where the inflexibility is by flexing the sides of the vamp and watching to see where the sudden changes are - where the sides outside the "V" stop bending suddenly. Then you need a technique to smooth those changes without necessarily thinning the tip in the process if it's already flexible enough.
Karl
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Author: Ed
Date: 2020-08-15 22:15
Henry Larsen did a couple of articles years ago for The Clarinet that have lots of helpful info. I am not sure if it is online. It was also published in his Rose Etude book.
While it can be pricey to ruin reeds, sometimes the way to learn is to experiment. Back in college I learned a lot through trial and error. You do have to get a little feel for it. Many times I would scrape in some area and then realize immediately upon playing it- oh not that wasn't it! I often ruined reeds that way, but it was valuable to see the results. It is the same as a good mouthpiece refacer who tries a number of things to see the effects.
Post Edited (2020-08-15 22:15)
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Author: tdufka
Date: 2020-08-16 04:44
Michael Drapkin has written a book that offers a logical approach to reed balancing that is available on his website.
There is information available that can give you ideas on where to adjust, but you will need to discover for yourself how to adjust the reed to fit your mouthpiece and playing style.
If you like, send me your email address and I can share some of what i have.
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