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 Balanced reeds feel awkward?
Author: OmarHo 
Date:   2009-09-22 02:27

Hello,

I recently received my ATG Finishing method, and have gotten very favorable results so far with just the first three techniques alone (for those of you who know what I'm referring to).

However, the sound on my nicely finished reeds feels extremely awkward because I'm used to having to work SO hard (maximum support, very firm embouchure). It's hard to explain- the reeds feel comfortable to blow like a soft reed, but has the strength of a hard reed. It just feels plain weird. Has anyone else felt this way with EXTREMELY balanced reeds?

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 Re: Balanced reeds feel awkward?
Author: DavidBlumberg 
Date:   2009-09-22 02:55

You'll get used to comfort soon enough.

http://www.SkypeClarinetLessons.com


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 Re: Balanced reeds feel awkward?
Author: Ed Palanker 
Date:   2009-09-22 03:11

Just because a reed is balanced doesn't mean it will play or sound good. Actually some players prefer one side a bit harder than the other. It also depends on the cane. I used to make reeds so each side would be a mirror image of the other. They almost never sounded good. I do balance my reeds but you really have to balance by density not thickness. One side can be thicker than the other but can actually be softer. Remember, bad cane makes bad reeds, balanced or not. There's hard cane, soft cane and plain bad cane. ESP
http://eddiesclarinet.com

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 Re: Balanced reeds feel awkward?
Author: OmarHo 
Date:   2009-09-22 03:31

Thanks, I'll do some more experimenting, and see how they play over the next few days. Hopefully they don't suddenly die and become too soft too soon (as Michele Gingras says).

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 Re: Balanced reeds feel awkward?
Author: clarinetguy 2017
Date:   2009-09-22 04:17

Building on what Ed Palanker said, and he's absolutely right . . .
There's a lot of confusion among reed players about what makes one reed (or part of a reed) hard and another soft. Is it the density of the cane, the thickness of the cane, or both? Check this out for some interesting answers: http://reed-help.com/research/strength/

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 Re: Balanced reeds feel awkward?
Author: joeyscl 
Date:   2009-09-26 04:08

as a mechanical engineering student I can safely tell you that it SHOULD depend on both thickness AND density (and the elastic modulus and other stuff... but lets not get into that)

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 Re: Balanced reeds feel awkward?
Author: mrn 
Date:   2009-09-26 16:57

joeyscl wrote:

> as a mechanical engineering student I can safely tell you that
> it SHOULD depend on both thickness AND density (and the elastic
> modulus and other stuff... but lets not get into that)

It also is affected by non-uniformities of density, thickness, and elastic modulus because cane is, by its nature, non-uniform. That's why making consistent reeds is so difficult.

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 Re: Balanced reeds feel awkward?
Author: Arnoldstang 
Date:   2009-09-27 00:03

Adjust reeds over three day period. Don't finish it the first day. It is very easy to go too far ...so don't.

Freelance woodwind performer

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