Woodwind Clinic Careful Cuts in Clarinet Reeds...studied with Himie Voxman, Leon Russianoff, and...
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Woodwind Clinic Careful Cuts in Clarinet Reeds by Charles West M any clarinetists tweak deteri- orating store-bought reeds in an attempt to keep them in top condition, but hand-cut reeds can be made to be reliable throughout the life of the reed. I started making clar- inet reeds many years ago and have learned the hard way what steps and choices work better than others. I began by trying to make every reed exactly the same and used a microme' ter to measure the thickness from end to end. However, I discovered that among reeds with the same measure- ments there were both excellent and dismal reeds. This led to the realiza- tion that the cane was the critical fac- tor. If one good reed comes from a piece of cane, the others made from that cane will also be good. Now I make one reed out of each tube, throw away the tubes that produce a poor reed, and work with only the cane that produced a good first reed. Cane fibers are denser at the edge near the bark of the tube and less dense near the center. Reeds made from thin blanks will have a harder tip than those from a thick blank because the tip of the thin reed came from cane that was closer to the bark and has denser fibers. A clarinet reed made from a blank that is thicker than 0.140" is likely to whis- tle or squeak, while those made from vamp heart stock heel blanks that are 0.112"-0.120" produce the best reeds for the clarinet mouth- piece I use. However, thinner or thicker blanks may work better on other mouthpieces, and determining the best range of thicknesses is a matter of trial and error. The cut part of a reed, called the vamp, should be exactly as long as the window of the mouthpiece. A reed that fits the mouthpiece well should be used to produce others that are identi- cal to it. There are machines that cut a reed blank to match the shape of a fin- ished reed in much the same way that keys are duplicated. The reed blank should be of the same thickness as the good sample or the copy will not match the original. A thicker blank will have a longer vamp than the orig- inal and be difficult to play with a cen- tered sound. A thin blank will have a shorter vamp that is easy to focus but difficult to play in the low register. The ideal is for a reed to be exactly as wide as the mouthpiece facing as it curves up to the tip. A reed that is wider than the mouthpiece will sound unfocused. Any excess cane can be removed by sanding the reed with fine sandpaper placed on a piece of glass. This may darken the sound, but if too much cane is sanded off the tone will become too thin and bright. Another important variable is the width at the heel or back end, which affects the focus of the tone. A reed is easy to focus if its shape matches the table or bottom of the mouthpiece. Mouthpiece tables are tapered toward the back, and it may be necessary to sand the sides of the stock (the uncut part of the reed) for the heel of the reed to match the table. By sanding the side of the uncut part of the reed, also called the stock, with an equal number of strokes on the sandpaper, the reed becomes more V-shaped and easier to focus. Players frequently comment that a reed has become soft when in fact the strength of the cane has not changed. The true cause is that the flat part of the reed has warped inward where the vamp begins. This effectively decreases the tip opening, and because the reed does not travel as far per vibration the resistance is reduced. A common solu- tion is to clip off a small piece of the tip, which makes the warped reed more resistant but also brightens the sound and makes the altissimo register difficult to play. If the tip is clipped, it must also be thinned to restore the beauty and darkness of the tone. The tip of a clarinet reed should be .0035"-.005" at the center. A reed with a tip that is thicker than .005" will 50 THE INSTRUMENTALIST / AUGUST 2003
Transcript of Woodwind Clinic Careful Cuts in Clarinet Reeds...studied with Himie Voxman, Leon Russianoff, and...
Woodwind Clinic
Careful Cuts in Clarinet Reedsby Charles West
Many clarinetists tweak deteri-orating store-bought reeds inan attempt to keep them in
top condition, but hand-cut reeds canbe made to be reliable throughout thelife of the reed. I started making clar-inet reeds many years ago and havelearned the hard way what steps andchoices work better than others.
I began by trying to make every reedexactly the same and used a microme'ter to measure the thickness from endto end. However, I discovered thatamong reeds with the same measure-ments there were both excellent anddismal reeds. This led to the realiza-tion that the cane was the critical fac-tor. If one good reed comes from apiece of cane, the others made fromthat cane will also be good. Now Imake one reed out of each tube, throwaway the tubes that produce a poorreed, and work with only the cane thatproduced a good first reed.
Cane fibers are denser at the edgenear the bark of the tube and less densenear the center. Reeds made from thinblanks will have a harder tip than thosefrom a thick blank because the tip ofthe thin reed came from cane that wascloser to the bark and has denser fibers.A clarinet reed made from a blank thatis thicker than 0.140" is likely to whis-tle or squeak, while those made from
vamp heart
stock
heel
blanks that are 0.112"-0.120" producethe best reeds for the clarinet mouth-piece I use. However, thinner orthicker blanks may work better onother mouthpieces, and determiningthe best range of thicknesses is a matterof trial and error.
The cut part of a reed, called thevamp, should be exactly as long as thewindow of the mouthpiece. A reedthat fits the mouthpiece well should beused to produce others that are identi-cal to it. There are machines that cut areed blank to match the shape of a fin-ished reed in much the same way thatkeys are duplicated. The reed blankshould be of the same thickness as thegood sample or the copy will notmatch the original. A thicker blankwill have a longer vamp than the orig-inal and be difficult to play with a cen-tered sound. A thin blank will have ashorter vamp that is easy to focus butdifficult to play in the low register.
The ideal is for a reed to be exactlyas wide as the mouthpiece facing as itcurves up to the tip. A reed that iswider than the mouthpiece will soundunfocused. Any excess cane can beremoved by sanding the reed with finesandpaper placed on a piece of glass.This may darken the sound, but if toomuch cane is sanded off the tone willbecome too thin and bright.
Another important variable is thewidth at the heel or back end, whichaffects the focus of the tone. A reed iseasy to focus if its shape matches thetable or bottom of the mouthpiece.Mouthpiece tables are tapered towardthe back, and it may be necessary tosand the sides of the stock (the uncutpart of the reed) for the heel of thereed to match the table. By sandingthe side of the uncut part of the reed,also called the stock, with an equalnumber of strokes on the sandpaper,the reed becomes more V-shaped andeasier to focus.
Players frequently comment that areed has become soft when in fact thestrength of the cane has not changed.The true cause is that the flat part ofthe reed has warped inward where thevamp begins. This effectively decreasesthe tip opening, and because the reeddoes not travel as far per vibration theresistance is reduced. A common solu-tion is to clip off a small piece of thetip, which makes the warped reedmore resistant but also brightens thesound and makes the altissimo registerdifficult to play. If the tip is clipped, itmust also be thinned to restore thebeauty and darkness of the tone.
The tip of a clarinet reed should be.0035"-.005" at the center. A reed witha tip that is thicker than .005" will
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respond slowly in the altissimo registeralthough other ranges may work well.If the reed tip is thinner than .0035" itwill probably squeak. Experiencedreedmakers can gauge reed thicknessby the sound of the clipper as it cutsthe tip. Clipping a tip that is thinnerthan .0035" makes almost no noise,and clipping a tip thicker than .005"produces a loud snap.
I prefer reeds with a thin tip, espe-cially at the center, because they pro-duce a dark, colorful sound if the heartis relatively thick. The relationshipbetween heart and tip alters thebrightness of the tone, while a thicktip and a thick heart produce a darksound. Clarinetists are often surprisedto discover that thinning the tip actu-ally darkens the tone.
The relationship between theextreme corners and the thinnestpoint in the center of the tip is alsocritical. The center of the tip shouldbe perfectly flat for the last several mil-limeters so when the reed is trimmedthe comers will still be thicker thanthe center. If the comers are thinnerthan the center, the reed will becomedull and lifeless.
The best way to cure the reed blankis to soak it repeatedly, usually withsaliva, followed by drying and sandinguntil the blank stays flat betweensoakings. Only then is the blank readyto be made into a reed. Unfortunately,humidity changes will warp any blankor finished reed, whether cured or
Charles West is professor of clarinet andcoordinator of winds and percussion atVirginia Commonwealth University inRichmond, He is past president of theInternational Clarinet Association andstudied with Himie Voxman, LeonRussianoff, and Robert Marcellus
5 2 THE INSTRUMENTALIST / AUGUST 2003
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not. I once brought 20 well-curedblanks to a summer orchestra festivalin a dry climate and kept them in astable, humid container. They stillbecame convex from the change inhumidity. The new blanks I made atthe festival became concave when Ibrought them to Virginia.
Reeds become convex if dried tooquickly and concave if dried too slowly.An easy test for warping is to place adrop of water on a piece of glass andpress the reed over the drop. If only thesides of the reed touch the glass, waterwill be trapped under the center, andthe reed is concave. If the sides of thereed do not touch the glass and it ispossible to rock the reed back and forthon the glass, the reed is convex.
The only way to prevent warping in adifferent season or climate is to accli-mate and sand the blanks before cuttingthe reeds or by controlling the humiditywhere the reeds are kept. It is certainlyworth whatever effort it takes to preventwarping because no amount of sandingthe back of a warped reed will evercompletely flatten it and can also causethe sides to be much thinner than thecenter, which makes the reed useless.
A common practice to preventwarping is to attach a reed to a flatpiece of plastic or glass with a rubberband, but in fact this makes reeds warpmore severely. When the back of a wetreed is stuck to a nonporous surface,the thin edges of the reed dry out firstand trap water beneath the center ofthe reed, which warps toward the glasswhile the edges curl up in a convexshape. The best way to prevent convexor concave warping it to control thehumidity.
Occasionally the tip of a reed willbecome wavy, especially on larger reeds.This happens if a reed has dried com-pletely and then becomes wet again;but the waviness merely indicates thatthe reed has been soaked insufficiently.It is nothing to be concerned about,and the tip will straighten out aftersoaking and playing.
When a reed and a mouthpiece fac-ing match perfectly, the reed is said tobe balanced. Usually the cane on a bal-anced reed will be evenly thick on bothsides of the heart, but occasionally thebest sound results when one side of thereed is thinner than the other.
To test the balance of a reed, play anopen G4 and roll the mouthpieceslightly on its axis. If the sound is moreopen with the mouthpiece slightly offcenter, the side of the reed tilted downis the resistant side. It is also possible tocheck the balance by placing the reed
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slightly off center on the mouthpiece.If the sound is open with the reed stick-ing out to one side, the side that doesnot stick out is too resistant. The usualsolution is to remove some wood fromwhere the stock and vamp meet tohalfway to the tip of the resistant sideof the vamp to balance a reed.
Although it is time-consuming, it ismuch better to make a good clarinetreed than to adjust a store-bought oneto the point that it plays well consis-tently. The idea of reed making fright-ens many clarinetists, but knowledge ofwhat makes some reeds sound good andothers sound poor can pay dividends thenight of a performance. D
Zildjian CelebrationOn May 9 the Avedis Zildjian
Cymbal and Drumstick Company cel-ebrated its 380th year. Guests includedElvin Jones, Joey Kramer, Terri LynneCarrington, and Cindy Blackman.Speakers included several Massa-chusetts and United States congress-men, Craigie, Debbie, and Rab Zild-jian, and Elvin Jones. Dun and Brad-street declared Zildjian to be the oldestcontinually-owned family business inthe United States, (www.zildjian.com)
James Grine Retirement CelebrationAlumnae and community members
surprised James Grine by creating anendowed scholarship in his honor. Itwas announced at the conclusion ofGrine's final faculty recital in March.His mentor during graduate school,Walfrid Kujala, attended the event.
New Headjoint CompanyThe Welans Headjoint of Boston
has begun to produce a silver head-joint designed by David Welans andwill be introduced at the AugustN.F.A. Convention.
Bruce Miller PremiereJohn Barcellona and the university
orchestra gave the premiere of Spirits ofthe Mask, a flute concerto by BruceEdward Miller on April 3 at CaliforniaState University-Long Beach. Thework was commissioned by theBrannen-Cooper Fund and dedicatedto Barcellona.
New Flute CompetitionThe New England String Ensemble
held its first flute competition for play-ers 18 and under, and NicholasJohnson of Hartford, Connecticut wonfirst place. The panel of judges in-cluded Doriot Anthony Dwyer andFenwick Smich.
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