 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: BGBG
Date: 2016-01-05 02:37
Curious as to whether the procedures on reed break-in/preparation YouTube videos, namely the brief soak, rubbing and sealing vamp, rubbing flat side on paper, clipboard,or fine sandpaper to polish before and after play, are to be done each and every time reeds are played or is it only strictly during the 1-2 week break-in period or if something is wrong?
Also, if anyone knows or where I can find it, what is the time zone of this BB because my post time that appears is 9 hours after actual posting. No big deal but wondered why or if it can be set.
Post Edited (2016-01-05 02:40)
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Author: Caroline Smale
Date: 2016-01-05 04:25
I think the answer is in your title. A break-in occurs in the stages of breaking in the reed. One the response has stabilised and all neccessary adjustments made then the reed enters normal playing routine.
However makes sense still not to overplay any reed, resting and rotating within a group of peer reeds until death it does part.
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Author: BGBG
Date: 2016-01-05 07:41
O 'normal play' after break-in would be to just wet a minute or two, play 1-5 minutes, dip, wipe & store? Is that what most players do or recommend doing? Dont need to continue the break-in routine indefinitely?
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2016-01-05 08:52
Just think of it as "re-hydrating" the reed, or getting it used to accepting moisture and drying out. Play a couple minutes a day for 4 or 5 days. Then put as much time in on them as you want.
I'd say also that you DON'T want to arbitrarily sand the reed. Honestly, I don't really do anything to reeds beside the wetting/playing over time. The sanding is supposed to do two things: flatten and smooth the table of the reed. But if the reed is fairly smooth and fairly flat, you could be doing more damage than good. Certainly you'd only do that ONCE, not before and after anything or more than that ONE time.
.............Paul Aviles
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Author: Ursa
Date: 2016-01-06 12:05
If you're going to rub/polish the vamp and/or underside of the reed, do it just once.
I find that doing so benefits soft reeds much more than harder ones. Prepping, say, Rico Orange Box 2.5 reeds for use on an open mouthpiece for jazz, it really makes a difference. For a Vandoren Traditional 4,0 going on a closed classical mouthpiece, it doesn't do much, if anything, to improve the reed--properly playing-in these reeds makes all the difference.
Of course, your actual experience may vary. Next time you break-in a batch of reeds, why not rub/polish half of them and leave the others alone, just to see what's optimal for your reed of choice? If the rubbed/polished reeds turn out better, you can always apply that treatment to the other reeds later; if the untreated reeds end up the winners, you won't be wasting time on unneeded reed prep in the future.
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Author: BGBG
Date: 2016-01-06 22:18
Sounds good. I was afraid I was wasting time or messing up reeds unnecessarily by overdoing it , or not doing it enough. I am breaking in some new reeds now so will try the half and half.
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Author: Slowoldman
Date: 2016-01-07 01:54
During the "rehydrating" phase, do you all make any attempt to balance or otherwise work on the reed, or do you wait until it has been wetted 4 or 5 times?
Amateur musician, retired physician
Delaware Valley Wind Symphony, clarinet 1
Bucks County Symphony Orchestra, clarinet 2 (sub)
Post Edited (2016-01-07 01:54)
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Author: Caroline Smale
Date: 2016-01-07 04:13
Usually do nothing to adjust on first 2 days.
From then on reeds that are significantly stiff will receive gentle adjustment to get nearer playing strength but otherwise only very small adjustments over next few days whilst reed is becoming stabilised.
I always try to start with reeds that are slightly on the hard side and gradually work down. For me this seems more satisfactory that having to clip new reeds.
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2016-01-07 04:15
As far as I am concerned you don't even know what you have until the reed "stabilizes." This is particularly true of Vandoren V12s (for example) that take more time to settle. It is only then if you even know if the reed is weaker, stronger or more out of balance.
..............Paul Aviles
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Author: Ursa
Date: 2016-01-07 04:25
I agree completely with Paul on the V12--best not to do anything with these until they're fully rehydrated and played-in. The same generally applies to Vandoren Traditional reeds.
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