Placement of Single Reeds on Mouthpieces and a Useful Test

Placement of Single Reeds on Mouthpieces and a Useful Test

Over many years customer have regularly asked me how best to place their reeds on their mouthpiece. Since the reed and mouthpiece combine to vibrate the air column this actually quite an important question. 

Following soaking, the reed should be positioned on the mouthpiece with the reed lined up evenly distributed on the flat cutaway that is the mouthpiece ‘table’ with the tip of the reed aligned with the end of the tip rail of the mouthpiece. When examined perpendicularly you should be able to see a hairline of the tip rail over top of the reed tip in standard playing position. Once you are satisfied with the positioning hold the reed with a thumb and carefully place the ligature over top. Lower the ligature until it sits in a position where there is an equal amount of the ‘bark’ of the reed visible on either side of the ligature. Tighten the screw(s) (where present) finger tight but do not over tighten them as this can damage the reed fibres and inhibit vibration.

If you wish to check the success of your placement you can perform a suction test as follows to see if the reed is ready to use:

• Wet the palm of your hand and place the shank end of mouthpiece end on your palm

• Take the tip of the mouthpiece and reed in your mouth, wrap your lips around the mouthpiece and create a vacuum by sucking aggressively and repeatedly to remove air from within the mouthpiece

• When you feel this has been achieved release your lips and the reed should hold shut for a few seconds (you may even hear a ‘hissing’ sound) before it ‘pops’ open with a noise, as the vacuum is lost.

• If you do not get a ‘pop’ first try again – If after repeated attempts your reed does not hold a vacuum it may be miss-aligned, warped or damaged. If it seems to take a very long time to ‘pop’ then if may be fatigued and ready to be changed.

It takes a bit of practice to gain ‘the knack’ of this test but it can be quite useful in confirming that the set-up is likely to work well.

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The tips and comments above are the result of many years of providing help and advice, my personal interest and study, and the teaching that I have done during my career. I have many colleagues and teachers to thank for sharing their thoughts and suggestions on this and other topics. In addition I am indebted to Woodwind & Reed, Cambridge ( www.wwr.co.uk ) where, in the course of helping customers, many of these concepts have been refined and have proven helpful.

Thomas Dryer-Beers

A Guide to Current Vandoren Single Reed Products 2016

A Guide to Current Vandoren Single Reed Products 2016

Vandoren make a truly remarkable range of top quality products for the clarinettist and saxophonist. So much so that perhaps a little additional background might be useful when considering which choices might be right for your set-up and style.

For the manufacturer's explanation I recommend a visit to the main Vandoren website where their many products and much additional specification information, artists, news and images may be found.

www.vandoren-en.com

For UK and European ordering of Vandoren reeds I am pleased to be able to recommend visiting:

www.reeds-direct.co.uk for their unrivaled stock and service.

For information and ordering any of the wide range of Vandoren accessories I would like to recommend visiting:

www.vanbleu.com

For my summary and opinions - stay right here!

For each of the reed products the Vandoren website offer their intentions and design details. I find that these are sometimes difficult to decipher and I have developed my own, deliberately short, and hopefully memorable, characteristic tone and performance descriptions. I hope they might help and I encourage all players to try the logical options for them - as I have - and see what these fine reeds can offer.

For clarinet reeds the range now extends to 5 products:

Traditional - Brilliant, with great attack
V12 - Flexible, woody and warm
56 Rue Lepic - Dark, centred and stable
V21 - Response with warmth
and the quality student reed by Vandoren, the Juno - Reliable, easy play

For saxophone reeds the range extends to 8 products:

Traditional - Brilliant, with great attack
Java - Flexible and round
Red Java - Responsive, flexible and bright
V12 - Flexible, woody and warm
V16 - Punchy with edge and projection
ZZ - Flexible, responsive and characterful
V21 - Response with warmth
and the quality student reed Juno, by Vandoren - Reliable, easy play

All the above reed designs are manufactured using the same top quality cane - their different performance is due to the variety of profile used in the cut, the thickness of the tube of the cane used, the thinness of the reed tip, the taper of the blank and the amount of cane left in the heart and spine.

All the above reeds are, of course, available in different strengths, and the effectiveness of the match to the mouthpiece being used and the playing approach of the player are critical factors in the performance and successful use of any reed. An incorrect reed  cut or strength match will compromise the intended performance without any doubt. While it is true to say that a successful match is an individual choice there are some generalizations, based upon likely use and type of mouthpiece match that may help. I am attempting to place these on a spectrum of likely successful use - bearing in mind that narrower tip openings demand stronger strength reeds where as larger tip openings will generally require softer strength reeds - medium tip openings can match most strengths and cuts. The characteristic use (C) - Classical, (J) Jazz is shown at the far left of each line.

Use      Narrow Tip Opening          Medium Tip Opening       Wide Tip Opening 

(C)/(J)       Traditional --------------------------------------------------------------------                     
(C)      V12 --------------------------------------------                                                                 
(C)               V56 ------------------------------------------
(J)                                       Java --------------------------------------------------------- 
(J)                                       Red Java----------------------------------------------------                 
(J)                       V16 ----------------------------------------------------------                             
(J)                                       ZZ -------------------------------------------------------       
(C)            V21 --------------------------------------------------------                             
(C)                                           Juno ----------------------------------------                                     


I hope the short summaries above will prove useful. It certainly helps me to keep all these products clearer in my mind when I am advising pupils or customers.

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The comments above are the result of many years of providing help and advice, my personal interest and study, and the teaching that I have done during my career. I have many colleagues and teachers to thank for sharing their thoughts and suggestions on this and other topics. In addition I am indebted to Woodwind & Reed, Cambridge ( www.wwr.co.uk ) where, in the course of helping customers, many of these concepts have been refined and have proven helpful.
Thomas Dryer-Beers

How Long Should a Reed Last? ( Clarinet and Saxophone)

How Long Should a Clarinet or Saxophone Reed Last?

This question is sure to have occurred to all players of single reed instruments at some point in their playing journey. It must seem at times to be our version of  'How long is a piece of string?' and must surely be a real frustration to beginners, parents and non-players who need or wish to answer what might seem like a straight forward question.

The answer is not easy and a thorough explanation involves many variables, some of which we all would probably not wish to contemplate, i.e. cane is a natural product, we expose it to our acidic saliva and encase the reed under a mouthpiece cap or reed holder where bacteria can easily thrive, etc.

However a few observations and generalisations can be made that may be of some help - 

• Beginners tend to be very hard on their reeds, chipping the tips or breaking them during handling. For best results one should consider changing reeds frequently, perhaps every week
• If a reed has been chipped or split then it is best to through it away
• If a reed has become discoloured with mould or dirt it is unlikely to play its best and should be considered for retirement
• The more frequently you play a reed the shorter its 'life span' 
• A longer practise / playing session will shorten the time any reed will play at its peak 
• Rotating reeds (usually between 3 or 4 at a time) will allow them to recover and extend their useful life - as well as allow for more direct performance comparisons 
• Softer reeds 'give up' more quickly than medium strength and stronger reeds
• Reeds cut with thinner tips to be more immediately playable and more responsive will generally not last as long
• Reeds will not last as long in high humidity conditions
• Reeds change in their resistance with the change of the seasons i.e. a reed that played well in Winter may not play the same in Summer
• Reed performance changes with different altitudes and temperatures - anyone who might have toured or travelled extensively may have experienced this
• If you are a better player and your standard is high you will likely be more selective and critical of your reeds meaning that fewer may meet your expectations
• If you consciously improve your reed handling and storage habits, e.g. by using a storage case or reed holder, you will be able to get better performance from your reeds for longer
• If you learn the skills of reed adjustment, i.e. how to adjust your reeds by clipping the tip and also how, by altering the profile with reed rush, sandpaper, reed knife or finishing tool, you can extend the life of your reeds
• If you knowledgeably save your 'best' reeds for concert performance and are content to do at least some of your practice on reeds of slightly lower quality you will tend to be happier overall

SOME INDIVIDUAL REEDS ARE JUST NOT RIGHT FOR YOU OR YOUR EQUIPMENT- this does not mean that they are not likely to serve someone else well or that the manufacturer is awful or that you are a bad player - TRY SOMETHING ELSE

Every now and then we may find an EXCEPTIONAL REED.  It is almost of mystical status as it seems to make us capable of playing everything better: high notes speak more readily and accurately, low notes are pure and responsive, dynamics come easily, our tone is gorgeous and both we and our audience know it - HOWEVER - it also pays to remember that this is not normal and I suggest a quick read of the following:

An excerpt from the Merriam-Webster Dictionary offers this: 


Simple Definition of exceptional

• : not usual : unusual or uncommon
• : unusually good : much better than average
   

We are extremely fortunate to live in an age where commercial reed manufactures have, with the aid of computer technology, much research and mass production quality control, succeeded in making such a wide range of finely graded products that have a remarkable consistency. I often say to pupils and also must remind myself that, however frustrated I might become, I am more likely to have contributed to poor reed performance than the manufacturer, i.e. have I 'overplayed' the reed?, have I taken care in handling?, stabilised the moisture content?, kept my reed clean?, asked too much of it during rehearsals? etc. 

At such times it is worth remembering that we players have the responsibility to do our best with what we have available at any point in time and, of course, we can always change our reed - and we can be grateful that we are not brass players who have only their lips to blame!

Have fun.

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The tips and comments above are the result of many years of providing help and advice, my personal interest and study, and the teaching that I have done during my career. I have many colleagues and teachers to thank for sharing their thoughts and suggestions on this and other topics. In addition I am indebted to Woodwind & Reed, Cambridge ( www.wwr.co.uk ) where, in the course of helping customers, many of these concepts have been refined and have proven helpful.
 

Thomas Dryer-Beers

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