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Re: Inconsistency in Reeds

Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2017-07-15 17:23

There are only two things a reed manufacturer can control to any degree.

They can control the cut - the dimensions and the way the reed tapers in all directions from its center core. This can be done, I assume, far more consistently with modern computer-controlled cutters than was the case 40 or 50 years ago.

They can to a limited extent control the overall quality of the cane they start with. There are other influences - soil, weather and volume demand. I don't know how much Vandoren grows on its own fields in the Var region these days. Every high end reed manufacturer claims to grow its own cane in carefully controlled conditions, but I think more and more they're forced to buy their cane from independent growers who may not make a quality growing environment a first priority. And no one can control the weather - we can't even predict it reliably.

The vibrating characteristics of a reed depend on both the way the reed is cut and the qualities of the cane itself. Cane is too variable to guarantee a consistent product even with the best of designs and most accurate of machines. And then mouthpieces vary, sometimes sharply and sometimes subtly, so that a given reed may play very differently on two similarly designed mouthpieces or even two examples of the same mouthpiece model.

So, as a player, you're left with two alternatives - play the ones that you like on your equipment and trash the rest, or learn to adjust the less immediately playable ones to compensate for the natural variation among individual pieces of cane.

Karl

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