The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Irwin
Date: 2001-09-30 17:46
Is there a maximum continuous time in which a reed should be played before putting it back in the case? I play on Vandoren V12's 3.5, and every now and then if I've been playing more than an hour and a half or two hours, it seems like the reed starts to give out. - it gets sort of warbly.
Also, when a read reaches that point of exhaustion, is it done for good, or will it recover if left to dry out?
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Author: sarah
Date: 2001-09-30 17:59
According to David Pino's book, some reeds can be brought back to life even after they seem to be gone for good. He suggests to leave these reeds for a while and try them later. I dont know about the other reed question.
sarah
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Author: mw
Date: 2001-09-30 18:56
In answer to your question, 1 1/2 to 2 hours _IS_ a very long time to play on a reed at one "sitting". When practicing I try & change every 15-20 minutes -- my reeds behave better & seem to last longer. mw
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Author: Peter
Date: 2001-09-30 20:02
I once read this on the Internet, by a young Japanese clarinet player whose name I don't remember, but I tried it and it has worked for me.
Once a month, about, I soak my reeds in hydrogen peroxide for several hours, stirring them every time I happen to remember to do so. I use the peroxide solution as it comes out of the bottle. I have forgotten them in the peroxide for as much as seven hours and they still came up good.
I also do it to reeds that seem to have "given out," and a surprisingly large number of reeds will come back. Some not as good, prime reeds, but plenty good enough for practice, others like they were new.
Remember to rinse them in clean, running water, squeegee them off gently and let them dry before putting them away again in your reed box.
Of course, they don't last forever, but it works well enough. After a few minutes of soaking, you see the streams of bubbles rising to the surface as if the reeds were using an aqua-lung under there!
My experience has been that once all the germs, bacteria and extraneous deposits have been hydrogenated out of the reeds, they will usually work much better.
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Author: Carmen Izzo
Date: 2001-09-30 20:30
I like to swtich every thirty minutes in practice, but i rehearsal (three hours) i use two reeds total
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Author: GBK
Date: 2001-09-30 20:44
Ricardo Morales told me at Clarinetfest that when playing for the Met, he changes reeds after each Act. Thereby, he uses 2, 3, or 4 reeds per performance (depending on the length of the opera).
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Author: GBK
Date: 2002-11-16 20:32
Whether the student is using a Vandoren, a Kaspar, or a Selmer Goldentone, <font color="FF8C00">never</font> instruct them to pull a weighted swab through the mouthpiece.
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