 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: BGBG
Date: 2015-06-01 07:20
I am playing clarinet one year. Lessons at first. Not in band or group but just at home. Usually play on reed until it wont work anymore and am still using reeds 6-8 months old. I try to play 1/2 to 1 hr a day and rotate through 6 reeds using a different one each time. I keep them in the plastic Rico holders they came in. I take good care of them but see my oldest reed has a chip in the blade like a 'lost tooth' and a more recent one has 2 chips. I am wondering (1) if I should try to repair them by clipping and/or sanding, and if (2) this could be caused by putting it in and out of holder however carefully.
If holder is not recommended, is there another case or way to store them that would keep them from twisting, waving, or distorting and not damage the end when inserting and removing. Would be good if also kept them moist or humidified. Thought at first the holders were good mut maybe not?
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Author: WhitePlainsDave
Date: 2015-06-01 15:28
Q1: Should [I] try to repair them by clipping and/or sanding?
I'll say no. I'll do so because I envision a "chip in the blade" being a substantial enough defect in your reeds, especially given their age, that clipping and sanding, even by someone experienced in same, will take too much time for the degree to which the reeds can be restored, and the relatively low cost of simply replacing them.
Q2: [Could] this be caused by putting it in and out of holder however carefully?
To get to the heart of the matter, or answer the question, "is placing the reed, when not in use, into its reed holder bad," I'll also say no. While some reed holders are better, or perhaps fancier than others, your careful placement and removal of the reed from this holder, especially versus no holder will, in the long run, protect the reed from physical damage when at rest, and is recommended.
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In brief, the paradox here is that if you want your reeds to last, simply don't play them. The water necessary for their play does its magic because it makes the read more pliable (i.e. breaks down fibers.) Their play, necessary for sound production, causes them to vibrate at high speeds, which also takes its toll.
"All moving parts are subject to wear and tear."
Volumes exist on the bboard about approaches to reed care, from their exposure to humidity, to what orientation they should be in when at rest, to whether their table (the flat side) should be sitting on a ridged surface. New to the instrument, I don't recommend such studies the best use of your clarinet time.
Post Edited (2015-06-01 16:14)
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2015-06-01 16:43
My first thought on the "chip" is that you have a reed (or reeds) that has become too brittle over the amount of time you hold on to it. Also, I'm not opposed to the plastic holders that open at the side (Vandoren) where you slide the reed in and out sideways, but the one that require sliding the reed in front ways for the full length of the reed begs for problems.
Rico has a dedicated reed case that is pretty decent but for inexpensive and effective, I like the LaVoz reed holders. They hold 4 reeds at a time and though you are sliding forward, it is a shorter distance and they will actually help keep the tips flatter (by means of the simple cantilever flap).
I would also highly recommend trying to start a new set of reeds sooner. After about two months of constant use, reeds will begin to exhibit a clearly more audible degradation of sound - harsher, less resonant, more "squeally."
Couple of other things:
Let them dry to the touch (15-20 minutes) and visual inspection before putting them in the LaVoz (or other such holder).
Break-in in reeds by playing on a brand new one only five minutes a day (or less than five minutes) for the first 4-5 days. Once through that time period of "re-hydrattion" you should be ok to play for as long as you like.
Finally, you don't need anything fancy for humidity. I take one of those small, fold-over plastic sandwich bags, blow a puff of air in there and put my reed holders in the bag, folding over once. If you do that every time you take out a reed and every time you put it back (each day that is), you should have enough humidity.
.................Paul Aviles
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Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2015-06-01 16:50
BGBG wrote:
> I take good care of them but see my
> oldest reed has a chip in the blade like a 'lost tooth' and a
> more recent one has 2 chips. I am wondering (1) if I should try
> to repair them by clipping and/or sanding,
I notice that you wrote that you "see" that the reeds are chipped. If you don't notice that the damage is affecting how they play - how they *sound* and respond - I'd say leave them alone and play on them until they don't play well anymore, then throw them away.
> and if (2) this
> could be caused by putting it in and out of holder however
> carefully.
I don't think using the holders should be causing the chips. The tips could be damaged if you push the reed so far into the holder that its tip sticks out a little at the other end. But to do this with Rico's holders, you'd then have a tough time getting the reed back out again - there would not be enough free area of the butt end left to grip to pull the reed back out.
Karl
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