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Re: Sharp reeds

Author: vboboe
Date: 2009-04-02 23:21

... well, first off, always remember that aging reeds play sharper as the fibres break down into shorter sections from the rapid vibrations, so recommend turning over to new reeds more frequently as a general practice

also, if those older and sharp reeds of yours can't sustain a robust forte any more, they're "blown out" and it's high time for them to go now, no point in trying to fix them to play a bit longer even for home practice

so blow test your reeds by themselves to a tuner to see how sharp they are -- C#'s could be fixable, D's are marginal, D#'s or higher, forget it (IF the reeds are old and can't do forte, this advice does not apply to new reeds)

oh, if you can't get a forte, be sure they aren't leaking from the sides, older reeds sometimes give way there first, and sometimes just wrapping them (not higher than 5mm above thread) makes them lively again

don't know the characteristics of winter-spring weather in your isp area, but here on the west coast i do find my winter reeds aren't playing well now and i have to replace all survivors en masse

assuming you're playing on american scrape style reeds, i've found once this style goes sharp from old age there's not much you can do for them, although IF they're marginal and IF they still have some forte left in them but are sharp, they might be worth a try at fixing them to go a bit longer

(1) lengthening (from 5-6+mm) and slightly thinning the sides of the tip a bit more and/or lengthening & grading the blend a bit deeper back into the heart
(2) widening the windows between spine and rails (for example, making them parallel side U's instead of angled V's )
(or 3, last resort and preferably not) thinning the rest of the heart below the blend

tradeoff is usually increased loss of dynamic strength -- sometimes these fixes work, sometimes not

short u-scrape styles can be renovated several times until they're either too old & sharp or too short & sharp, making them more economical as everyday practice reeds than american scrape, but once the long u-scrape style goes old & sharp it's a basket case pronto

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