 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: MSK
Date: 2014-06-09 06:29
I was checking over my middle schooler's marching clarinet prior to taking it in to replace a pad. This instrument has been at school for weeks, I wasn't really sure how bad it was going to be. The instrument itself was in pretty good shape but not the reeds. There was a grand total of one reed. It had a sizeable chip in the corner and smelled bad as well. "But Mom, it plays fine. I've been using it for weeks like that". This coming from the first chair player. (His good clarinet at home has always had normal looking reeds)
To think I agonize over my reeds: cane vs synthetic? How should I break in those cane reeds? Do I really only have 2 good reeds in that box of 10? Are those reed systems actually worth the money?
Maybe the kids have the right idea...
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2014-06-09 16:28
Actually I have several students that are at a nascent reed care level at best and only have a few reeds at a time and sound pretty darn good. Reeds do require way more work for a minimal return.......and it's worth it. But perhaps we could all live with just a little less than the very best results.
............Paul Aviles
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Author: Klarnetisto
Date: 2014-06-17 21:43
Once years ago I was accompanying (on piano...!) a high school clarinetist preparing for adjudications. I noticed that her tone was very stuffy and she seemed to have real trouble playing.
So my curiosity got the better of me and I finally asked her if I could try her clarinet (something that most piano accompanists would never do!).
When I did, I was so alarmed that I just blurted out "THAT'S NOT A CLARINET REED, THAT'S A POPSICLE STICK!! How do you play this thing, anyway?!!"
"I don't know...!" she responded sheepishly.
"Look, next time I'll bring my equipment and try to get this reed fixed for you!" So for out next session I brought my glass and sandpaper and worked over her reed, with really improved results.
I think of that often: how many other young clarinetists are trying to play with popsicle sticks, and their teachers have never noticed enough to think of helping them to correct it?
Klarnetisto
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Author: pewd
Date: 2014-06-17 22:18
I check my student's reeds every few weeks and make a show of snapping the torn/chipped/moldy ones in half and flinging them across the room.
The biggest impediment I see in young students is a reluctance to ask their parents to buy more reeds. Or simply laziness - they have new reeds at home but are too lazy to put 4 or 5 new ones in their cases. It requires constant reminders from me - you WILL show up with multiple, good reeds.
- Paul Dods
Dallas, Texas
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2014-06-17 23:40
Ok, I did already make my point, but if a reed is actually still functional (with perhaps a chip or two from a 'newbie') wouldn't it be better to allow the student to feel the usable life of the reed...........that is, as long as it is still making a decent sound?
.................Paul Aviles
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Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2014-06-18 01:07
After the opening greetings and pleasantries I start a lot of the lessons I teach with the question, "What do you think about the sound you're getting?" After a while most of them get the idea that if it's fuzzy, unresponsive and full of the sound of rushing air, it isn't a good thing, and we do something to correct the problem. I adjust the reed if I can do it quickly but more often we replace it. Sometimes they answer (correctly) that the sound seems good and easy to play, and we go on with the lesson. The point at the beginning stages is for them to notice that there's a difference. The next step is when, on their own, they react to a stuffy reed by asking if they can change reeds. I hope that they eventually begin to pay as much attention to the sound they're producing when they're not with me. Learning to discriminate between good sound and bad sound is one of the most basic things a younger student can learn.
I don't think you need to obsess over how the reed looks - if the chip in the middle of the tip isn't causing an audible problem, leave it alone. But I let them know they should start looking for a new one because the chip may get worse and cause a problem that can be heard.
Most of the time, my students (at least the younger ones) have gotten a perfectly good new reed out at some point between lessons and played it to death over a few days (break them in? huh?). So when I get to hear it, it isn't vibrating much at all.
Karl
Post Edited (2014-06-18 02:13)
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Author: Klarnetisto
Date: 2014-06-18 03:20
I'm all for using a reed as long as it lasts. Sometimes when you give a reed a rest, it will sound better again later.
Klarnetisto
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