Author: RobinDesHautbois
Date: 2012-05-25 00:56
Scrape the tip when the cane is dry.... that's the best advice my teacher ever gave me! Even if you only leave the reed standing on the table for 15 seconds (don't lick or suck it after), it makes a huge difference. But you are right about really soft-fibrous cane.
Naturally, sharp knives are all-important. As you may know, I don't cotton to the controlled-burr technique, for me a knife must be sharpened to the point it will shave my forearms. That is a bit too sharp, but I get it there and then be really careful while it dulls down to the ideal sharpness. You can find my techniques here:
http://RobinDesHautbois.blogspot.ca/search?q=sharpening
For the longest time, I was in perfect agreement with Jay Light that a curved blend between the heart and the tip softens and warms the tone. But lately, I have been "stepping" tips on reeds that used to blend more.... well, the sound is more distinct, clear (words.... argh words... do we all understand the same thing?), but the actual "choclateyness" remains approximately the same.
I also want to experiment with how accute the V tip is made. I read on the BBoard people saying that the flatter, the better for stability and tuning. My teacher always did them rather obtuse and his sound was legend..... at the time, perhaps today it would be considered normal. That's why I like to experiment.
Then again, the reason I had to step the tips is that the changing seasonal weather turned my reeds to rubber.... race-car tire grade! In fact, some reeds that used to play wonderfully just went wonky and, surprizingly, using wire saved them almost completely.... I never used to do wire!
So the quality of a reed is a function of the weather!!!!
Robin Tropper
M.A.Sc., B.Mus., B.Ed.
http://RobinDesHautbois.blogspot.ca/music
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