Author: LJBraaten
Date: 2013-01-03 18:24
Thanks for the thoughtful posts, I will try to respond to most of them.
First, the drying of reeds upside overnight was suggested by Karl in the other post, as well as drying in a Gonzales case (or on the mouthpiece) which holds the reed flat after rehearsals/concerts. I tried drying reeds overnight, and noted the next day I had some very bowed reeds. When Karl noted that he almost never has problems with warped reeds, I concluded that I must be getting mine too wet (not mentioned until now). So I went from immersing the vamps, to soaking the tips, to briefly dunking the tips, to omitting the ritual altogether (although I no longer baptize my reeds, I still occasionally circumcise them). I am now getting better playing results, they are less soggy, play longer at one setting, and I am seeing less bowing (at least on the one reed that I have tried this with). I am hoping that this will solve most of my warping and bowing problems, but as already noted, some reeds come bowed out of the box, and may need attention.
Karl, when my reeds don't play well and fail the suction test I try to fix them. Heck, I'm retired, have the time, and I can't play the clarinet 24/7 so I might as well tinker. The results I'm trying to achieve? to get an unplayable reed to a playable state. Some of my best reeds have been redeemed from a nearly unplayable state. A bowed reed can cause two problems which render them unplayable: One, if the reed needs sanding due to warping, traditional sanding techniques are inadequate, since so much has to be sanded that one has a reed with a thin tail (and tip). This also results in a much thinner sound, so they might be good for practice reeds, but not rehearsal or concert. In some cases such aggressive sanding ruins the reed. Second, if a reed is significantly bowed (even if not warped), it may fail the suction test, since it might not contact the upper portion of the table of the mouthpiece (unless one has a very long window). I have observed this, wetness on the top third of the table, but dry below. So again, the only way I see to adequately address the problem is to modify the sanding technique, as described in the beginning of the thread. Of course if you don't want to bother with them and throw them out, then none of this is useful (If I send you a SASE would you mail your discards to me  ).
[OT: Somewhat related, I have recently found a way to tell if the reed has some uneven or warped spots. After sanding it lightly on 600 grit paper, I polish on the back. I then hold it up so that the light shines on it. Shinny spots are high, dull spots are low. ]
I almost always find something that needs adjusting on a reed, so I have also started buying reeds 1/4 to 1/2 harder with the notion that I will adjust them down to a lesser size. Besides, sometimes the 3 and 3.5 Mitchell Luries seem to soften too quickly and "mush up" on me. But my hope is that most of these problems will disappear now that I am using unimmersed reeds.
Laurie
(Mr. Laurie J Braaten)
Post Edited (2013-01-03 19:40)
|
|
The Clarinet BBoard
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
