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Re: Reed scraping

Author: RobinDesHautbois
Date: 2011-08-23 10:49

Could it be the season?

I noticed that my reeds (freshly scraped) are starting off flat, but if I leave them alone a few days, they go sharp. The weather in Eastern Ontario is getting cooler and dryer: the dog-days are over and the comfortable autumn is nearing.

I would hesitate to "adjust" tuning by scraping: this runs the huge risk of making them unstable.... but again, this is the experience of a Lorée player, where instability is a daily part of playing.

My philosophy is that if a reed plays at A=440 and generally plays the notes in tune (even scale and dependable pitch centers), I leave it alone and compensate for the position of the A-standard with breathing and embouchure. When it is really sharp, I pull out the reed and that has never caused any issue of any kind. All scraping adjustments will affect many aspects at the same time: responsiveness AND tuning AND stability AND tone quality AND ...

But you complain that they are too closed. This is something of a nightmare. I have recently gotten 2 good reeds from near-failures thanks to wire, BUT their problem was slipping (sideways overlapping), and the wire does prevent them from being true concert-grade reeds. In the past, I have tried to control opening with wire, but to no avail.... others have better experience with wire.

Robin Tropper
M.A.Sc., B.Mus., B.Ed.
http://RobinDesHautbois.blogspot.ca/music

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