 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: SecondTry
Date: 2024-02-16 06:16
You've probably seen those videos, whether from Reed Geek's Mauro DiGioia or others on the importance of a flat reed table.
...And I certainly am not advocating playing reeds with any substantial warp on the table, longitudinal, side to side, or both.
But the other day I took a reed to a piece of plate glass and pressed down in the middle of its length.
Looking sideways, maybe I could push it down against the glass in its middle 1/4 of a millimeter.
My thoughts--and maybe wrong---so what?
Put that reed on my mouthpiece and apply my ligature, with no more force than I would for the most perfectly of flat reeds, and I have to think that that imperfection, if it even amounts to anything as it regards limiting play, is going to be rectified by the pressure applied to the reed by the ligature.
Wrong?
Disclaimer: I own a Reed Geek and like it. It doesn't cause trouble, as would a reed knife, for the TSA, when taking a clarinet on a plane.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2024-02-16 08:19
If the ligature presses down on the middle, yes. I would think any of the "Bonade style" ligatures would be good for that opposed to say the Vandoren M/O style that only applies pressure to the top and bottom of the reed's stock.
............Paul Aviles
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: JTJC
Date: 2024-02-16 17:42
Having tried to bend the stock of a reed between my fingers, I'm not convinced a ligature can exert sufficient force to bend it. I know it's always said, that with a mouthpiece lay that has concavity the ligature can flex the stock and that affect the response. I'm not convinced that's what's happening. Any thoughts, anyone?
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2024-02-16 19:26
Well........
I kinda wanted to add a qualifier there. What is happening is more a bend from the vamp area. However, since the facing doesn't really start until approximately 17 millimeters from the tip of the reed, the ligature can help this alignment if the ligature holds more centrally (and the bigger the better ie BG Duo).
This bending is also what happens with Legere over time. I combat this by simply observing where this is occurring (around that 17mm mark) and gently bend the reed straight. I've never tried this with cane (didn't want to fidget with reeds while I was still a cane player) so I can't say for sure if this would be as beneficial but I don't see why not.
....................Paul Aviles
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: lydian
Date: 2024-02-16 20:23
I’m with you SecondTry. A little ligature pressure can easily overcome slight warping. Mine have to be warped pretty badly for me to pull out the Reed Geek, which is very rarely. But I have a few bandmates who obsess over perfectly flat reeds an are constantly working on them. Complete waste of time. I slap the reed on the mouthpiece and play. If I have problems, moving or tightening the ligature more usually does the trick.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: SecondTry
Date: 2024-02-16 21:41
Apologies: I need to clarify.
In my example of exerting force on the middle of the reed on a glass plate I want to make clear that the amount of force applied (by my finger) easily falls short of the amount of force--as light as some people choose to make it--of a ligature against a reed.
:)
Of course others "mileage may vary."
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: lydian
Date: 2024-02-16 22:08
Oh, so you’re saying people tend to over tighten? Suppose that could be. I use as much force as needed for the best reed response, no more, no less. But sometimes it takes a lot. This is mostly on sax where the reed surface ares and tip opening are much, much larger. There’s also a difference between flat to the eye and airtight. Probably takes a bit more force than finger pressure for that. Due to the large surface area, my bass sax ligature has to be pretty tight, or I’ll have problems.
P.S. My poor man’s Reed Geek is a $5 set of lathe bits from Harbor Freight. Before that (from 1970-2020), I just used a pocket knife. I don’t ever see myself buying overpriced gadgets like Reed Geek.
Post Edited (2024-02-16 22:16)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2024-02-16 23:27
To further clarify, I too refer to a bend that is light and affects the business end of the reed. What is at stake is that the bend (whether caused by "warp" or usage) brings the tip of the reed CLOSER to the tip of the mouthpiece. I think all these issues tend to be less troubling with cane because wood (the cane) is enormously flexible.... and in a forgiving way.
With Legere the bend is through usage (though there is ALWAYS that "bend" on new reeds fresh out of the "coffin"). Usually I wait until I put some miles on the Legere before bending it straight but sometimes I nip it in the bud. With the Legere you want the correct tip opening relationship from the start because this allows the most pitch correction on the fly that we all count on (for the tip opening that we individually prefer that is).
.............Paul Aviles
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: SecondTry
Date: 2024-02-17 01:03
lydian wrote:
> I don’t ever see myself buying overpriced
> gadgets like Reed Geek.
>
>
> Post Edited (2024-02-16 22:16)
Normally I agree with you. But as mentioned, the Reed Geek is ok to take on a plane inside the cabin. It's extremely square profile longitudinally provides a scraping surface that can't also, unlike a standard knife, be used as a weapon.
Otherwise, I completely agree that if you can find a tool that does the same thing that doesn't have a "treble clef" on it, you're likely to get it at half the price of the musician centric tool.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: donald
Date: 2024-02-17 14:15
The contoured bits on the Reed Geek get a LOT of use in our household (both my wife and I are pro clarinettists, she doesn't work on reeds though so I have to provide her with with a supply of adjusted reeds as well as working on my own). There's more to the Reed Geek than just the "straight bits"
I was quite resistant to this tool for a long time. My "go to" tools were, for many years...
- Knife (used "with the grain"), rolled up sandpaper around a pencil (used "against and across the grain"), and little bits of reed rush (for targeting single zylem/outcrops etc).
At clarinetfest 2021 I tried out the Reed Geek and ended up buying one, it does all the jobs I used to use Knife and Rush for and most of the jobs I used to use sandpaper for.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
