CLARINET REED ADJUSTMENTJOHN ANDERSON

REED ADJUSTMENT

Manyoftheproblemsinclarinetperformancerelatenottothephysicaldeficienciesoftheplayerbuttothequalityandconditionofthereed.Thissmallpieceofwoodstronglyinfluencesbasictonequality,tonecolor,evennessofresponseandarticulation,andintonation.Althoughtherearemanyfactorsintheinnerstructureofthereedcanethatmakeany“guarantees”ofsuccessinreedselectionimpossible,thefollowingvisualcharacteristicsaredesirableinanewreed:

• uniformyellowcolor—i.e.,withoutagreentingeinthevamp(brownsplotchesinthebarkarenotindicativeofeithergoodorbadquality);

• balancedshadinginthereedvampwhenhelduptothelight;

• straightgrainfrombutttotipasobservedalongthebottomtableofthereedasithelduptothelight;

• bottomtablefreeofanywarpagewhenheldflatonapieceofglassorPlexiglas;

• balancedheightofbuttend;

• evenshoulderslopetotip;

• reedtipfreeofchipsorsplits.

Thefollowingdiagramshowsthevisualcharacteristicsofasinglereed:

DIAGRAM 1VisualReedCharacteristics

Itgoeswithoutsayingthateveryreedcannotbemadetoplay.However,thebettertheinitialvisualqualitiesstatedabove,thebetterthepotentialforagood,adjustedreed.Aminimalamountofequipmentisneededforreedadjustment:

glassorPlexiglasplaque(approximatesize) 4”x5/8”x3/16”(clarinet) 4”x3/4”x3/16”(bassclarinet)

glassorPlexiglasworkarea 6”x4”X1/4”(approximate)

Wet-or-drysandpaper,grades400and/or600

Dutchrushand/orreedscrapingknife

Reedclipper

Dependingonthedegreeofaccuracyyouwantinbalancingyourreeds,anadditionaltoolthatisvaluableisadevicetomeasurethethicknessatvariouspointsonthevamp.TheReedGaugefromJeanné,Inc.iswhatIuse.Withthisdevice,Icancomparethethicknessofthecanefromsidetosideaswellasthemiddle“hump.”Ialsoliketocheckthethicknessofthehighestpartofthetip.Aftermeasuringseveralpointsacrossthe“white”partofthetipandsubtractingthelowestfromthehighestnumber,theclosertozero,thebetter.Alargedifferenceinthicknessinthispartofthetipwillproduceanunevenrespondingreedandabrightertone.

Althoughyouwillneedtofindwhatdimensionsworkbestforyourparticularneedsandmouthpiece,theactualthicknessmeasure-mentsofthevampwillnotalwaysbethesameforeveryreed.Thisisduetothevascularbundlecellstructureofcanewhichwillalwaysvarybetweendifferentpiecesoftube.

JeannéReedGauge

Cordierreedclipper

Reedscrapingknife

Newreedsshouldbeplayedforbriefperiodsfortwotothreedaysbeforecommencingregular,extendeduse.Duringthisbreak-inperiod,thewoodwillundergosmallbutcrucialchangesinresponse.Thefollowingadjustmentsaretobemade,ifneeded,duringorevenbeforethesefirstplayings.

Oneofthemostimportantfactorsinreedresponseisflatnessofthebottomtable.Areedwithwarpageonthebottomtablewillrespondinastiffbutunevenmanner.Whileholdingthereedontheglassplaque,checktoseeifitrockstothesidesortotheends.Ifwarpageisfound,thereedbottommustbelightlysandedinacircularmotionagainstthe400or600gradesandpaper.Thereedshouldbeheldflatwiththreefingersinthesandingprocess—oneateachendofthereedandoneinthemiddle.(Donotpresstoohardonthetip;placethefingerslightlyinfromthetip.)

Asecondcheckforflatnesscanbeaccomplishedbyrubbingthereedbottomtableagainstthereverse,ungradedsideofthesandpaper.Thiswillproduceasmooth,polishedlooktothetablewhenheldatanangletoalight.Ifanyareasseemdullasthelightreflectsoffthereedbottom,thereedisnotperfectlyflatandtheabovesandingprocessmustberepeated.(Note:Toomuchsandingwilleventuallymakethereedsothinthatitwillnotplayatall.)

Afinalcheckforflatnessinvolvesattachingthereedinitsnormalplayingpositiononthemouthpiece,closingthebottomendofthemouthpiecewiththepalmofthehand,andsuckingtheairfromthemouthpiecechamber.Ifthereedmomen-tarilyremainsclosedagainstthemouthpiecetip,anear-vacuumhasbeencreated,implyingthereedisholdingflatagainstthemouthpiecefacing.However,ifthisdoesnotoccur,theabovesandingprocessshouldberepeated.

Thegeneralresistanceofareedisaresultoftwodifferentfactors:airresistanceandembouchureresistance.Thefirstmaybecheckedbysoftlyplayingthelefthand“open”gfingering,withoutusingatonguearticulationatthestart.Ifa“hissing”soundoftheairisheardbrieflybeforethetonestarts,theairresistanceistoogreatandthetipareashouldbelightlysanded.Tochecktheresistancetotheembouchure,playthesecondregisterf-sharpandattemptto“pinch”thereedclosed.Ifthisrequirestoomucheffort(ascomparedtoa“good”reed),lightlyscrapethereedwhereitcomesincontactwiththelowerlip.

Todoasimple,auralcheckofthebalanceorsymmetryofthetipandupperheartarea,thereedshouldbemovedslightlyoff-centertoeachsideofthemouthpiece.Theresponseoftheseoff-centerpositionswhileplaying“open”gshouldbecompared.(Thesideofthereedbeingheardisthatwhichisoutsidethemouthpiece.)AmoreaccuratemeasurementrequiresadevicesuchastheReedGauge.Ifonesideisfoundtobemoreresistant,thissideshouldbelightlyscrapedintheareashowninDiagram2.

Afterseveralplayings,responsecomparisonsshouldbemadebetweenrangesusingthethreeoctavesofg:lowestg,openg,andsecondregisterg.Ifanynoteseemsmoreresistantthantheothers,thereedshouldbescrapedorsandedintheappropriateareasasshownbelowinDiagram3.Inmanycommercialreeds,theheartistoothin;hence,thismiddlepartofthereedvampshouldbeavoidedatfirstinthesandingprocess.Ifaftersandingtheappropriatesidearea,theregisterremainstoostiff,thevampcentermaybesandedtoimproveresponse.

DIAGRAM 2ReedTipAdjustments

DIAGRAM 3RangeResponseComparisons

Manycommercialreedshavenothadenoughbarkremovedfromthestockarea.Thiswillcauseanunevenrighthand,lowregister.Thelengthofthewindowopeningofthemouthpiecemustequalthelengthofthereedvamp.Tooshortavampmaybecorrectedbygentlyscrapingthebarkwithaknifeandthensandingthisareatoblendintotheremainderofthevamp.

Ifthetoneistoobright,theshoulderarea,marked“1”inthenextdiagram,shouldbesandedorscraped.Ifthereedblankisnottoothin—i.e.,lessthan2.8millimeters—scrapingthereedcenterbelowthepointwheretheplayer’slipcontactsthereed,marked“2”inDiagram4,willalsodarkenthetone.Thisisnotacommonadjustmentofcommercialreedsduetothealltoofrequentthinnessofthereedblanks.Conversely,ifthetonequalityistoohollowanddull,theareasmarkedinDiagram5shouldbesandedorscraped.

DIAGRAM 4AdjustmentstoDarkenTone

DIAGRAM 5 AdjustmentstoBrightenTone

DIAGRAM 6HeartRebuilding

Example#1(Hearttoolow)

Example#2(Afterclipping)

Theprecedingsuggestionsallapplytoreedswithtoomuchorunevenresistance.Oneofthemostdifficultproblemsiswhenareedplaystooweakorhastoothinaheartforproperspringaction.Aslightchangeintheresistancemaybeaccomplishedbyclippingasmallamountoffthetip.However,iftheheartneedsrebuilding,thefollowingstepsmustbefollowed:

1) Clipasmallamountoffthetipandtestthereed.Repeatthisprocessuntilthereedplaysslightlytoostiff.2) Scrapethebarksothevamplengthmatchesthemouthpiecewindowopening.Sandtoblendthebackvamp.3) Testthereedtoseeiftoomuchresistanceisfound.Ifneeded,lightlysandthetiptoimproveresponseandtodarken

tonequality.

CARE AND STORAGE OF CLARINET REEDS

Theplayinglifeofacommercialreedcanvaryfromoneortwodaystoapproximatelytwoweeks.Thiscanbeslightlyextendedifreedsareusedinrotationratherthanplayingasinglereedcontinuouslydayafterday.Inaddition,reedsshouldbestoredonaflat,hardsurfacesuchasglass,Plexiglas,ormetalsotopreventwarpageasmuchaspossible.Commercialcasesareavailablethatpressthereedflatandprotectthetip.StoragecasescanalsobemadeusingapieceofglassorPlexiglasandawiderubberbandtosecurethereeds.Thisisthenwrappedinclothorplacedinapouchforprotectivecushioning.Playersshouldhaveaminimumofthreetofourgoodreedsavailableatalltimes.

Thesuggestionsinthisbriefguideareonlyabeginningtoyourreedadjustments.Itisnotmeantasacomprehensive“solution”forreedproblems.However,themoreyouexperimentanddiscoverhowthereedworks,themoreconfidentandsuccessfulyouwillbecome.