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Re: Rowdier reeds

Author: ohsuzan
Date: 2008-07-03 19:41

I think your best bet is to focus on the reeds you are using. Some reeds are rowdier than others.

Since I don't really make my own reeds most of the time, I can't speak from a totally technical perspective, but I associate a louder sound with bigger tip openings, and maybe longer tips -- anything that gets more "buzz" (more high partials?) in the sound. There is a sound that I call "tippy" on a reed -- usually indicating to me that my reed tips are too long and need to be clipped. (This is the opposite of what my teacher calls "tubby" reeds -- which are too much the other way.) Maybe the "tippy" sound is what you are looking for in this instance. Less big and round, more piercing.

I also recall being advised that making the blend between the heart and the tip more abrupt will result in a more biting sound (and vice-versa, if the reed is too much of a screamer, you make the blend more gradual to achieve a mellower sound).

If you are in the mood to order reeds from someone else, I would suggest that the reeds from Kerry Willingham (www.reedmaker.com) or the new gray ones from Nielsen's are louder than average. Kerry is a retiree from the U.S. Army Band in Washington, D.C., and I have always thought the projecting character of his reeds reflect his career as a bandsman.

Or, maybe you could get your director (there is a director?) to chat up the idea of everyone else playing softer? Sometimes it takes the verbal equivalent of a directorial beating-about-the-head-and-shoulders to get certain folks to play something other than flat-out all the time. But dynamic nuance is a very desirable thing in a band, don't you think?

Susan

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