Author: Jim22
Date: 2015-10-03 04:42
Thanks for the suggestions, I'm still here, reading and digesting them.
From my perspective, it appears to take _experience_ to get a reed close to balanced, and then from there it can be adjusted to get the best from it. Unfortunately, experience is one thing that no new reedmakers have!
My earlier reeds tended to be flimsy, closed, and close up when played. My teacher suggested I had removed too much material from them.
For my latest batch of reeds, I may have over-compensated, and they apparently still have too much cane left on the heart and back. I can pretty much judge the thickness of the tips, since "as thin as you can get without destroying it" seems about right, especially on corners and sides. It's harder to judge the back, and really hard for me to judge the heart.
I'm an engineer, and I want to see reed-making as a process, with dimensions and measurements that can be repeated. I can measure lengths, but thicknesses are tougher, and strength is even more of a challenge. Maybe reeds just don't lend themselves to "process".
Anyway, I'm going to persevere and try to find a happy middle-ground. Lately, not all of my teacher's reeds have been successful either, so I know it's not just me.
Jim C.
CT, USA
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