This causes the reed to vibrate unevenly, which results in poor tone, difficult response, and pretty much any issue that varies from one reed to the next. To open the reed squeeze the wire, using your fingers, gently from the sides. A minimal amount of equipment is needed for reed adjustment. Bassoon reed adjustment kit kit consists of contoured knife left or right in small, medium or large file handle, plastic arrowhead plaque, ebony block, fox holding mandrel and reed adjustment information from christopher weait. Making reed adjustments, by jean johnson after the necessary preparations have been taken for the first stages of breaking in a reed, you may notice that your reed is still not as responsive as you would like. This is not a post on how to adjust reeds, rather its a list of the specific things to collect so the adjustments can happen. Place your reed in the drying rack and wait at least 24 hours for session 3. This small piece of wood strongly influencesbasic tone quality, tone color, evenness of response and articulation, and intonation. That would mean clarinet has four complete octaves when every advanced clarinetist like myself knows that the clarinet only has three and a half octaves more than any other woodwind, so please realize you are out. This is the only profile designed around a thin blanked reed, however, it is the most common style of reed included in the study. How to adjust bassoon reeds diagnosing your bassoon reeds. Clarinet reed adjustment can happen two different ways. Not a word is mentioned about adjusting the heart or the sides of the reed in this context, though there is a passing mention to the ideal parabolic dimensions of the reed crosssection a few pages earlier.
An oboe reed can make or break an oboes usability and sound. Pdf scraping technique for clarinet reeds derived from a. Reed adjustment guide oboe reeds to increase the musical satisfaction as well as to limit the musical frustration, we recommend that the band director or the player purchase the best possible reed. It is easy to remove wood, it is impossible to replace it. Reeds are usually the copout excuse for clarinetists. For help in clarinet repairs, rentals, and sales, call duo music clarinet shop today. Even a reed that already seems pretty good can often be improved. How to get a reed with potential and turn it into a reed that kicks ass safely and effectively. This material are normally used in the manufacture of alto saxophone reeds. Ive been playing clarinet for 5 years, and im pretty good, but sometimes i have trouble playing the really high register key notes, or they dont come out as smoothly.
Its easiest on your lip muscles though and thats why a lot of doublers sax and flute players go that route. I have prepared this handout to serve as a guide for your journey through the reed making process. You dont have to spend a lot of money to get your students or yourself equipped to adjust reeds. Balancing adjusting reeds when a reed doesnt work out of the box, it is often because the reed isnt balanced. The reed tip should overhang the mouthpiece tip slightly. Care and adjustment of clarinet and saxophone reeds. It is this area that balance issues pose the greatest problems for players. Great tips for bassoon reed balancing and adjusting mmi blog. For lessons, auditions, or performances, use your best reed. It may be small, but the reed is one of the most important parts of the clarinet. If you understand that clarinet reeds have multiple personalities and moods, you can live with them better. This is the one exception i make for changing the reeds cut. Gd reeds are made from a cane with a classic french cut.
Diagnosing common oboe reed problems midwest musical. Adjusting saxophone and clarinet reeds peter spitzer ive been reading some interesting books on reed adjustment. However, the better the initial visual qualities stated above, the better the potential for a good, adjusted reed. Wait a day before clipping the reed, it may surprise you the next day. How to save money by balancing reeds the clarinet web site. The single reed adjustment manual by fred ormand, selection, adjustment and care of single reeds by larry guy, the saxophone reed the advanced art of adjusting single reeds by ray reed, perfect a reed. He is well known in australia as a soloist, composer and arranger, and has worked with artists as varied as frank sinatra, the toshiko tabakin orchestra, sammy. They are made with a thicker blank and a larger diameter material than the standard clarinet reeds. The following is a list of the materials i recommend and the order i. Each time you rehearse or practice, use the next reed in the holder. Purchase reeds on th e slightly hard side and adjust them from there, rather than clippi ng. Im wondering if its the size of the clarinet reed i. The following methods work best at the top third of the vamp, nearest the tip. Replace one reed at a time in your rotation rather than all of them at once.
If you understand that clarinet reeds have multiple personalities and. Bassoon reed adjustment kit edmund nielsen woodwinds. A warped reed will not seal against the mouthpiece and, therefore, will be harder to play than a flat reed, and it may be tough even to get a sound from the reed. Col loughnan currently teaches saxophone and woodwinds in the jazz departments of the sydney conservatorium of music and the queensland conservatorium of music. Reed adjustment many of the problems in clarinet performance relate not to the physical deficienciesof the player but to the quality and condition of the reed. But too often, reeds are too thick, too long, too open, too closed, too sharp you name a problem, and its a possibility for an oboe reed. Before being able to adjust your bassoon reeds you must first decide what is wrong with the reed, it is no use simply saying the reed is bad.
The complete guide to clarinet tuning july 22, 2016 august 7, 2017 jennymaclay articles, the complete guide as if playing clarinet wasnt already difficult enough reeds, breathing, coordinating both hands we also have to worry about tuning. They are the first gonzalez reeds with a filed cut. Jessica and i have long been fans of christian davidssons really simple reed balancing guide before you get to the finer details of the scraping points of the guide, if youre using gouged, shaped, and profiled cane, the first thing you probably need to do is crape out of what christian labels 18 on the reed. When it says here you can try to clamp in the reed a bit more towards the mouthpiece slot to see if it will become heavier, they mean you should position the reed further up than you usually do. Mouth on the thread not the cane blow with a lot of air and there should be three octaves of a c play the reed in the oboe to check for stability and tone things you are looking. The reed micrometer is the best way to test for balance across the entire length of the vamp, not just the tip area.
Its better to get a decent fixedlength barrel of a good length and bore to give you an acceptable starting pitch when cold, and just pull it out as. Specifically, figure 18 on page 30 cant possibly be correct as the areas of adjustment indicated are all at the tip of the reed. Oboe reed adjustment guide by khara wolf asses your crow and how the reed is playing. Jason worzbyt welcome to the wonderful world of bassoon reed making. June boyce, master of music utah state university, 1976 major professor. If this happens the first time you try my reed, gently flex the tip closed with your fingers to relax the cane.
The complete guide to clarinet tuning jenny maclay. And, if youre interested in the reed plaque and finishing paper. Often the tip of a new reed will flare open and collapse a bit as its played in. Clarinets have a single reed which, together with the mouthpiece onto which the reed is fixed, makes the air in the instrument vibrate when you blow into it. If you are playing, try taking the mouthpiece off the instrument while keeping the reed on.
The pdf is likely translated from german, so some of it can be a little confusing. Pdf clarinet reed adjustment geoffrey huge academia. Make just a few strokes always keeping the block flat to the glass and test the reed again. Close by using this website you agree to our use of cookies. Every reed is different, even if they are in the same batch. Clarinet reed comparison chart ricorriiccoorico 11551. I find that balancing the corners can correct for much of the asymmetry of a typical reed.
Reed adjustment suggestions trent jacobs, bassoonist. Reed adjusting by christian davidsson you can spend a lot of time scraping and adjusting reeds with no or only minimum results. Pdf excellent mouthpiece for single reed instruments. Pdf reed seasoning and adjusting for clarinet and saxophone. This is how i lower the pitch on a legere bassoon reeds. Adjusting the tip opening for tone color and resistance. Fundamentals of playing the clarinet, tone quality, intonation, response, articulation, and technical facility are all affected by the quality of the reed. This is due to several reasons, primarily related to the proportions of wood on the shoulders, rails, tip, or bottom of the vamp. Session 3 this last session involves many steps such as cutting the tip of the reed and shaving the reed to make fine adjustments that are very reed specific. Results are compared to a model in which the reed is reduced to its stiffness and the. All reeds have a temporary life span and change with time and use, but double reeds have a shorter life span than do single reeds. Among these naturally sharp tones is the third space c concert bb.
The purpose of this paper is to describe and illustrate the necessary skills in making and adjusting oboe reeds. In other words, the reed is what creates the acoustic waves that actually produce sound. Use the reed knife to balance the reed, take off very little wood at a time and check the reed after each adjustment. The performance of a reed can be described using four basic criteria. Wellbalanced reeds have a nice clear tone and respond reliably throughout the instruments range and at any dynamic level. The following suggestions presume that the reed is made with the standard american long scrape as illustrated in the accompanying diagram. Once adjustments are made, the reed may have too little resistance too soft. It goes without saying that every reed cannot be made to play. Care and adjustment of clarinet and saxophone reeds author. One way to improve your ability to remove the material from the right place on the reed is to mark the area with a pencil and then work the area to remove the mark. It is composed of two parts, the flat part of the facing up to a closing point and the curved part of the. When this naturally sharp c is used as the tuning note the barrel needs to be pulled excessively to bring it down to pitch, and this, as we observed above, results in flat throat tones. Look on a strength 2 reed and with 4 years experience you really give me a good laugh trying to tell me you can get up to high g. In addition, the reed opening is measured using an optical device.