Author: William
Date: 2010-03-02 15:15
The reed should be "balanced" to your mouthpiece, not necessarily equally balanced to itself. To do this, position the reed on your mouthpiece first dead center, then slightly shifted to the left and right of center. Then, take a little cane from the side that plays too stiff until it matchs the other side or plays to your satisfaction. Ex--if the reed plays too stiff tilted to the left, that means the right rail side of the reed needs adjustment. Remove only a small amount of shavings before retesting--for this I use a reed knife, others may use "dutch" rush, sandpaper, etc. Generally, this removal should be made in long stokes towards the tip from the side of the heart that is stiffest, but not too close to the tip. These minor adjustments may be done while the reed is mounted on the mouthpiece for easy play-testing between scrapes. Many may disagree with this, but it worked successfully for me for many years without any mouthpiece damage. Of course, eventually you will want to center the reed occassionally to determine if the balancing process has been successful, but initial adjustments are doable with the reed still tilted. Sometimes, a reed will play wonderfully slightly off-center--if this is the case, I just resolve to play it that way with no further balancing. As long as it plays great, who cares if it isn't perfectly centered?? Of course, all of my advice here is just basic reed balancing "101"--it is actually much more complex and requires more in-depth study and experiance. There are many good books--one by my forer college teacher, Glenn Bowen, "The Making and Adjustment of Reeds". Tom's system is also recommended, but if you can become just as good with a reed knife without. What Tom Ridenour offers is precise "how and how much" advice and is probably worth the investment--at least, for the video. BTW, when I knew Tom at Leblanc (1990's), he was making his reeds from blanks on a Redule and finishing them mounted on his mouthpiece with a reed knife, much as I have described--at which, he was then a master.
Bottom line: balance your reeds to your mouthpiece, not strictly to themselves. Good luck.
However--I must add--for the past year, I have been "liberated" from these balancing issues and the inconsistancies of cane by switching to Forestone reeds. Many other clarinetists are using Legere--particularily, the Signiture series (which do not work for me, but perhaps for you). Personally, I may never go back to cane as its such a relief to have a reed that is always ready to play, never requires preparation or adjustment and never "die" on the gig, maintaining it's resiliance from down-beat to final bows. Forestone of Legere, for me, better than Vandoren or any other cane brand. Definately, the reed of the future.
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