 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Keil
Date: 2000-12-30 05:39
Okay i'm so fed up with reeds that i'm considering the art of reedmaking... I know this is hard laborous work but right now i'm thinkin' it might be worth it. My question is 1) do a lot of clarinetist make their own reeds 2) which company sells top quality cane and 3) am i insane? okay... thanx
SMILE, it's contagious :-)
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Author: mw
Date: 2000-12-30 13:07
I feel the same way. I have a Reedual on order. Making reeds strictly by hand is hard-er work, IMO.
There are many books/pamphlets/treatises (I am hard put to describe these as they aren't as thick like an Ace Sci-Fi Novel in softback). Many of the reed books are new.
Books on reed making or reed adjustments have been authored by: Larry Guy, Reedmate don''t recall the author, Platamone, & Armato. A new book I just got from Gary Van Cott @ Clarinet Books & More, a Sneezy sponsor, is titled Making & Adjusting Cklrinet Reeds by Glenn Bowen.
Best of luck.
mw
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Author: Anji
Date: 2000-12-30 16:21
You're definitely on the right track. Making your own reeds is not nearly so difficult as you may imagine, but has some hidden pitfalls to avoid.
I really like Larry Guy's book, which is definitive and provides a method to break them in gradually (very important to the process).
You may buy blanks through Muncy Winds or Rob Gilbert.
They will have the first cut made, and have been aged. Pay no more than 50 cents per blank. Your first 20 may not be very good, so buy cheap blanks!
Lastly, consider buying heavier strength reeds in volume and sanding them down to your preferred strength. This is perhaps the easiest way to slide into the deep waters you are about to tread.
I recommend you get a standard, like the Legere that will always play the same way. It need not be your best player, but having some gauge is the only way to make your results reproducible.
Drop me a note off line and I will tell you what little I've figured out and provide a few resources.
anji
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Author: joevacc
Date: 2000-12-30 16:37
Ditto for me. Making reeds can be very rewarding. Of course it takes a while and you can do your best carving and find in the end that the piece of
cane is not the best in the world! All the books mw suggests are going to help and any others you can get your hands on- do so. They all
have different approaches and in reading many books I have found that it is the combined information that helped me to turn out good reeds. One thing I read that has helped is to have a good commercial reed as a model as you work for a guide. Give it a go I'll bet you are
amazed that with a little patients even your first reed will play! It may not be the the best reed you have ever played but after trying a bunch
of reeds you will get considerably better at making them. As far as buying cane all the mail-order
houses stock it but it has been my experience that the quality is varying. I'll keep my eye on this post to see if any one has come across a
consistent source for cane. As for your 3rd question, I've not come across a clarinetist that isn't a little off! B~)
Best of luck...
jv
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