 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Brad
Date: 2001-11-29 23:45
Hi,
Recently, I have been having some problems with reeds. About a month and a half ago, my teacher suggested that I try harder reeds (I had been playing on Vandoren 3's with a M14 mouthpiece) since I seemed to be overblowing already on the 3's. So he had me try the Zonda reeds with a strength of 3. I didn't really like these reeds at all, they had a really nice sound, but the upper part felt a lot thinner and more unforgiving than Vandorens. I found that I squeaked . . . a lot. I told my teacher this, and he suggested I try Vandoren 3.5 reeds. I've been playing them for this past week. At first, they seemed easy to blow, when I played them at home. However, I have not tried them at home since, and only played them in band and practiced before and after school in the band room. Now, they are a lot harder for me to play, and the sound is fuzzy and airy. Is this maybe because the band room is a lot bigger than my room at home, or because I'm not used to the reeds yet? If so, how can I become more comfortable playing with these harder reeds? Thanks
(and yes I did read the other posts on the board and this isn't a macho reed thing)
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Author: Hiroshi
Date: 2001-11-30 01:06
To know Vandoren reeds are unsymmetrical is a good starting point to adjust them. One side of the tip is 'always' thicker than the other. Always.You can easily ascertain this by micrometer.
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Author: Aussie Nick
Date: 2001-11-30 01:45
Why can't Vandoren stop making one side heavier than the other. You'd think they'd get it right by now, after all the complaints they've had over the years.
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Author: sarah
Date: 2001-11-30 02:55
Reeds act different in different places. They vary with the temperature, humidity, and probably lots of other things that I have yet to find out. If you look at some of the previous posts on Vandorens, they will say that each box conains reeds of differents strengths. So try all the reeds in the box and see if you can find some that work at home. Remember that all 10 will never play.
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Author: Hiroshi
Date: 2001-11-30 04:00
To check the tip thickness balance is easy. Just rotate the horn to one side and blow and then to the other side and blow. If one side does not sound like the other side, that side is thicker. No black magic involved.This simple check and balancing may make many reeds usable(at least) and save money. A balanced thicker reed sounds better than an unbalanced one.
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Author: Hiroshi
Date: 2001-11-30 04:19
A very interesting posting to Klarinet mailing list:
http://www.sneezy.org/Databases/Logs/1996/11/000012.txt
p.s. Genman reeds Steuer Esser offers stone(not rock) finished reeds. There are one(X), two(XX), and three(XXX) finishes. This is not a joke.
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Author: werner
Date: 2001-11-30 14:12
Why should this stone finishing be a joke? Don't some
of you use polish stones (Schleifsteine)
instead of sand paper (Sandpapier) for the table
of the reed ?
I have the same problem with my setup. Little airy
noise at home, a lot of airy noise in our practice-room,
Very little noise in our church.
This is very confusing, and I'm asking myself:
Should I use different setups for different rooms?
A more open mouthpiece reduces the noise, but
is more difficult to control in the high registers and
has a less brilliant sound in the church.
Softer reeds are reducing the noise too but
are impossible to control in the high registers.
I recorded my playing in these different rooms, and yes:
The difference is audible on these recordings.
It isn't something that only happens in my head.
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Author: sarah
Date: 2001-11-30 16:53
Sorry, if my post was confusing, I just meant that reeds are unpredictable. I disn't mean to say anything about the rest of anyones set up, only that try ing a different reed might help.
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Author: Jason M
Date: 2001-12-02 19:44
I find Vandoren reeds quite unpredictable, when buying a reed(s), I take in my best working reed and check it against a new one. I find Vandorens either great or pitifully bad. That is why I check the new ones now, it generally works out. I have also found that a reed say with 2.5 on it turns out to be a lot thicker than another 2.5, perhaps it is down to poor quality control.
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Author: Stephane
Date: 2001-12-04 21:25
About Vandoren 2.5 being thicker than another 2.5 say from Rico has nothing to do with poor quality control, but just the fact that there is no official standard for reed thickness. If you go to the Vandoren catalogue on vandoren.com (pdf), you will find a table showing how their reeds compare in thickness to others on the market and you will find out that indeed Vandoren are always thicker and harder to play than others. Then it is a matter of personnal choice to decide which one suits you best.
Stéphane (France)
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