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Author: srattle
Date: 2011-06-04 22:20
Hi,
I was just wondering if anyone knows why some reeds like to whistle?
I've had a few recently that have the tendency to want to make this whistling sound, and I can't figure out what to do with them short of just tossing them.
They generally sound pretty good, and respond pretty well too, except that they make this sound very often. It's not a squeak, just a whistle. Most of the time I can also control the whistle when I'm thinking about it, but it's not doing me any favors.
Anyway, I was just wondering what causes this in a reed. Sometimes it's from old ones, sometimes they want to do this right out the box.
Thanks, more just interested about it than looking for a cure
Sacha
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Author: John Peacock
Date: 2011-06-05 13:31
I've wondered about this as well. I don't have an answer, but a few observations and guesses about the phenomenon:
(1) It's not just the reed: I've had mouthpieces that did it quite frequently, whereas the same reeds on another mouthpiece would behave.
(2) I find it happens much more easily on bass than ordinary clarinet.
(3) It seems to vary with time. A couple of years ago, I was experiencing a rising tide of whistles, but (touch wood) nothing for some while. Same reeds (V12), so have the makers changed something? It could be me of course, even though I'm not conscious of changing anything.
(4) If it's going to happen, the trigger often seems to be going over the break: especially something like throat A to E above the break, if you don't get the A key closed quite soon enough. Indeed, I learned to diagnose whistly reeds by playing E and then opening the A key.
(5) I've found that whistly reeds often get cured by a small amount of clipping. My reed cutter tends to narrow reeds a bit - removing the "ears" at either side of the tip. This makes me speculate (and it's only that) that whistling is related to having too thin a tip. Certainly, given the high pitch of the whistle, one could imagine that the whistle corresponds to the reed oscillating in a short direction - i.e. across its width at the tip.
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2011-06-05 13:57
In my experience (and subsequent analyses) the reed chirps when
- it is not uniformly wet, causing non-uniform vibrations, and not uniformly (and at the same time) closing the mouthpiece when vibrating. This type of chirp goes away over time, ie within the first five minutes of playing.
- A minute leak somewhere, or fingers not completely closing toneholes, or fingers inadvertedly touching other levers (my favourite one: C#/G# near the LH ring finger), and you unconsciously trying to overcome that leaklet by blowing harder or with a different embouchure.
- reed not uniformly shaped, or warped.
- a reed whose shape doesn't do well with the shape of the mouthpiece (rails (long axis), and tip shape not matching the shape of the reed), causing these unwanted overtones. This can be experimented with by moving the reed a bit up and down on the mouthpiece.
- the bigger the reed, the more frequent the effect.
- "bad reed day". Happens to me every once in a while. If a known-to-be-consistent reed (eg a Legere) yields the same effect, it's me (ie my embouchure).
And no, I don't mean the squeak.
--
Ben
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2011-06-05 21:41
I agree with Ben.
Most whistles are caused by leaks, almost always at the corners. Try moving the reed very slightly higher on the mouthpiece -- maybe 1/32" -- to check.
If you've been playing the reed for a while, check for warping on the bottom. If there is an impression of the window on the bottom, you need to sand it flat.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Bassie
Date: 2011-06-06 06:56
Hmm, could be wrinkly reeds. Sometimes the tip wrinkles when they dry out and it doesn't always go back again when you play them. How are you storing the reeds?
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Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2011-06-06 07:16
I haven't had this happen, but check the pads. If a pad is leaking, perhaps the pad is at fault. You could also mess with changing the facing of your mouthpiece. I have seen the fish skin split causing weird noises. The skin vibrates.
Designer of - Vintage 1940 Cicero Mouthpieces and the La Vecchia mouthpieces
Yamaha Artist 2015
Post Edited (2011-06-08 06:59)
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Author: TianL
Date: 2011-06-06 14:09
Sacha, I had a Kaspar that chirps more than others. When it chirps, I would try the reed on another mouthpiece and it wouldn't chirp there (so it' not just the reed).
I contacted Brad Behn for this and he said it might be things like table not flat, etc. I sent it to him for a clean-up and though it took a long time (I guess this kind of work is not his priority on his busy schedule), but eventually when I got it back, the chirp problem was fixed, and the mouthpiece was otherwise the same.
So if you are still playing the Behn, then definitely send it to him to take a look.
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Author: Liquorice
Date: 2011-06-07 18:15
I ALWAYS get chirps/whistles when I play short cut reeds, like the Vandoren White Masters. And I've only ever tried them on German mouthpieces (and clarinets). I don't know why it is. I get them typically in the lower register, especially on staccato notes. Because of this I prefer to play longer lay mouthpieces and reeds.
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Author: Malcolm Martland
Date: 2011-06-13 14:16
I agree with all the above. Also if the ligature is too far onto the mouthpiece then squeaks seem to happen more often - at least on my tenor sax they do, on the clarinet it's just my inaccurate fingers!
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