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Re: Spoiling Your Reeds...

Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2007-11-05 23:00

Besides, every reed seems to have a reasonable service life span that appears to be in the 25..35 hours ballpark. This is about as much as those fibers can stand, then they lose their elasticity and the reed first gets tired, then retired. That's how it appears to be working and I've found my inner peace with that fact (and am happy I don't have to pay or work as much as an oboe player).

Re scraping and sanding - wouldn't it be more beneficial to learn how to cope with an okay reed instead of scratching here and sanding there to tickle the optimum for the embouchure du jour, at the expense of practicing time? (And you'll find out that the reed that was great today sounds dull tomorrow). Just like a good cook can make a great meal from what's in the fridge while a mediocre one will complain what's missing. On vacation, I usually only take my least favourite mouthpiece and grab a handful reeds from the bottom drawer, just to learn how to play those. That sounds like The Clarinettist's Way Of Self-Flagellation, but in the long run it makes you worry less about equipment. Most often it's not the reed nor the mouthpiece that makes me a bad player, it's slow fingers, slow tongue and slow reading. And no amount of oiling and sizzling will improve them. Time will, as will practice.

--
Ben

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