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• Michael Emmert

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CLARINET REED FUNCTIONALITY, ADJUSTMENT, AND CARE Eric Hansen Introduction This document is designed to illustrate and explain my understanding of the functionality of a clarinet reed. I write this from the perspective of my own experience and without the use of references. My experience to date includes about 10 years of using commercial reeds (the last 5 using Vandoren V12 brand reeds) followed by about 3 years of making my own reeds from blanks. Currently, I play only on my own hand-made reeds. I have read numerous articles and books about reeds and I know several other peoples’ reed care methods and functionality hypotheses. What follows is my synthesis of everything I have learned as it applies to the topic of this document. I feel it is necessary to say that my methods and hypotheses are my own and are not necessarily universally applicable. The Parts of a Reed . . .

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. . . and Their Functions on Reed Performance The reed is a machine. Its function is to transfer rapid vibration from its tip to the base of its heart in such a way as to vibrate the air molecules inside the mouthpiece and produce sound. A good reed will vibrate evenly and predictably (under the control of the player) several hundred times a minute depending on the note being played. For example, a reed should vibrate 440 times per minute to produce the pitch A440. The Heart As you can see in the diagram above (FIG. 1), the heart is essentially a region of gradual transfer of material from the base of the vamp (the bark line) to the tip. The heart is shaped like an ellipse (similar to the shape of your thumb above the knuckle) with a slope (downward to the tip). It is also rounded from left to right so that the center is slightly higher than the sides. Because of this shape, the heart serves as the spine or backbone of the reed. Its function is vital to the way a reed vibrates. Different heart shapes work differently depending on the mouthpiece (or the player), but there are two other main concepts to understanding heart structure (beyond the shape): (1) the “height” of the heart and (2) the symmetry (left to right) of the heart. Try holding a reed up to a light (preferably a florescent light, it allows more to be seen) and notice the shape, height, and symmetry of the heart. The “height” of the heart is basically how far up it appears (in relation to the length of the vamp) when you hold the reed up to a light. A heart that is too high up will yield a reed that is too hard (stiff) that will play sharp, if it can be played at all. There is too much material in this heart for it to vibrate in conjunction with the tip. Here, the heart is actually preventing reed vibration (see FIG. 1a).

A heart that is too low will yield a reed that is too soft. If the heart is very low, the reed will not only play very flat, but it will become far too flexible. The altissimo register is almost impossible to produce on a reed like this. Here, the heart is not controlling vibration enough. This reed will vibrate wildly and uncontrollably with an unfocused tone (See FIG. 1b).

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A heart that is not left-right symmetrical will prevent the reed from vibrating evenly between the left and right sides. This will make the tone stuffy and airy, and will usually make the reed feel harder than it actually is. In this example, the heart is preventing vibration on only one side of the reed (see FIG. 1c).

The Tip Just as the heart controls the transfer of vibration from the tip to the butt, the tip area transfers vibration from the tip edge to the upper portion of the heart (see FIG. 3). Since there is much less material in the tip area, the fibers become more important and serve as a main structural element. A good piece of reed cane is dense; the fibers are smaller, closer together, and there are more of them. In most good reeds, nearly all the fibers will extend all the way to the tip (FIG. 1 on pg. 2 labels the fibers).

Notice in FIG. 3a, however, that many of the fibers of this reed do not extend completely to the tip. This can cause a number of problems, mainly because any vibration from the tip edge will not be completely transferred to the upper heart. The tip may produce an unusual buzzing sound, which is due to the fact that the left side is likely vibrating differently than the right side. Articulation may also become difficult or inaccurate because part of the tip will still vibrate even when the tongue is touching it.

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Reed Adjustment Unfortunately (for the sanity of all reed players), a reed was once a living plant. Because every cell of every plant on earth is slightly different, no two reeds will ever play exactly alike one another. In fact, it is very common (with Vandoren reeds) for one reed to play drastically different from another. Learning to adjust reeds is really nothing more than a process of trial and error. An inexperienced person will likely destroy dozens of reeds before s/he begins to grasp the concept of how adjusting certain parts of a reed will affect the specific aspects of that reed’s performance. It is an understatement to say that this is a frustrating learning process. However, with some experience, this can become a very rewarding process. In this section, I will offer what I have learned about reed adjustment (through my own trial and error) and link my adjustment concepts with the functions of the parts of the reed. I use several tools (listed later in the “Breaking in New Reeds” section under “Useful Tools . . .”) to make adjustments to my reeds. All adjustments are done after the reed is broken in and has been played on for several minutes that day. All adjustments are done wet. If I use my files, I first dip the reed in water. Then I dip the file in water before I start scraping. It is the same if I use a small piece of sandpaper – I first get it wet. A wet reed resists chipping and shredding. Here are some things to consider when adjusting reeds: •

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Most importantly: The table of the reed must be as flat as possible before you can predictably adjust a reed. A reed with a warped table can display unpredictable characteristics resembling those of an off-center heart. This is why it is so important to completely break in a commercial reed (see below for a suggested process) before doing any adjustments. The break-in process should remove most of the warp. You can only take material off of a reed, not put it back on (a difficult concept to master). Symmetry (left to right) is the key. Always look at your reed under a light to see what your adjustments have done to the symmetry of the heart shape, etc. In almost all cases, if you see one side (of any given area of the reed) with too much material on it, matching that side with the other will balance the reed and make it feel much better to play. FIG. 4 – The rails of the reed are a common place in need of adjustment. Again, symmetry is ideal. The amount of material in one rail should be as close as possible to the other rail. An unbalance between either rail will have a similar effect to having an off-center heart. Be careful adjusting the rail area near the tip since that area is almost as thin as the tip.

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FIG. 5 – This is, by far, the most useful diagram pertaining to reed adjustment. If you can remember how the 3 registers on the clarinet are affected by the 3 main areas on the vamp, you will have a major head-start toward successfully adjusting your reeds. As you can see in the FIG. 5 diagram, the vamp can be split loosely into 3 main areas (Upper, Middle, Lower) across its width. Adjusting material in these areas will affect the register of the clarinet they correspond with. For example, if your reed feels too hard when you play the chalumeau register, remove some material (keep the heart balanced) from the lower heart (see FIG. 5). If the clarion register is too resistant, remove some material from the middle area. Note: Almost all adjustments are made close to the left or right rail. Only rarely should you need to make an adjustment anywhere along the central line of the heart. *One good rule is to stay away from the central line of the heart during adjustment. Otherwise, you risk changing the height of the heart to a height that is too low (soft, flat, poor altissimo, etc.). Also notice the region about halfway down the vamp (FIG. 5). I call this the “Contact Point” region because it is approximately the point where the face of the mouthpiece meets the reed. If your reed is generally balanced, but the tone is still too stuffy, try removing a small amount of material from this region (keep both sides symmetrical). Usually a small adjustment is all that is necessary and the result is a reed that is much less stuffy. Reed Adjusting Tips • Always make sure the table of the reed is as flat as possible (before making adjustments). • Pretend there is a vertical line running straight down the center of the reed through the heart. In general, avoid this area when adjusting. If you make adjustments to the center line of the heart, you are likely to reduce the height of the heart (and cause the condition illustrated in FIG. 1b). • Use a light to check for random spots of excess material that might be preventing smooth transfer of vibration from the tip to the heart or from the upper heart to the lower heart. Carefully remove excess material and always check for left-to-right symmetry. • Reed response problems may be caused by a tip that is too thick (rarely the case on a Vandoren reed). When making any adjustments to the tip (with files or sandpaper) make sure the reed and the tool being used are very wet. Use only light pressure when adjusting the tip or you will break it. Also, take care not to remove too much material from the tip, causing the reed fibers to no longer extend all the way (see FIG. 3a). • Make very small adjustments one area at a time and play-test the reed after each adjustment. You will learn how to adjust reeds much more effectively if you do this.

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Reed Maintenance/Care I believe no explanation of reed functionality is complete without explaining basic reed maintenance/care since the way a reed is cared for greatly affects its functionality. I know many players who complain that their reeds do not last very long. I think it is critical for any serious player to administer a simple break-in process to all of his/her reeds in order to maximize reed consistency. Further, I advocate a good long-term maintenance plan in order to maximize reed life span. Breaking in New Reeds The commercial reeds I have used differ greatly from the personally-made reeds I make in terms of the quality of the cane. I am referring to my experience with the quality of Vandoren reed cane. I have heard that Vandoren cane is not allowed to grow to maturity because of high customer demand for their reeds. Whether this is true or not, it does offer an explanation to my experience with their cane, which is softer, less dense, more easily water-logged, and much less resilient to stress (i.e. they don’t last as long) than the cane I use to make reeds. Because of this, the break-in procedure is much more delicate with these commercial reeds. The main thing to consider with new commercial reeds is that they will gradually decline in strength during a break-in procedure. For this reason, I recommend waiting until at least Day 4 or later to begin making adjustments. In addition, I recommend waiting until Day 4 before determining if a reed is good or not. Some bad reeds will get much better after a break-in procedure. Useful tools: Sandpaper, Glass (1.5” X 6” and 8” X 8”), Files or a Reed Knife, and a Reed Clipper -Sandpaper sheets: (I recommend Norton brand) grits: 600, 320, 120 -Sandpaper pieces: small wet pieces of 320 sandpaper (about twice the size of your thumbnail) -A small 1.5in X 6in piece of glass for doing adjustments -A larger piece of glass (at least 8in X 8in) for polishing and flat sanding -Files: A flat mill (size 0), a round "rat tail" file (size 0), a jeweler's file (size 0) -(optional): a reed knife can do the same job as the files, but I only use files and small pieces of sandpaper for my adjusting -A reed clipper (I use a Cordier)

Below is the method I would use to break in Vandoren (or other commercial) reeds.

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Commercial Reed Break-In Procedure Important Note: No matter how poorly the reed plays during Days 1-3, DO NOT make ANY adjustments to it. A new reed will change drastically during this time, and is not yet consistent enough to predict what adjustments are necessary. Day 1 (reed is brand new out of the box) 1-Soak reed in water for 30-60 seconds 2-Play reed for no more than 5 minutes (regardless of how well it plays) 3-Polish reed table (using a circular motion on the back side of 600 sandpaper on top of glass) 4-Store reed safely, allowing it to dry Day 2 1-Polish reed table 2-Soak reed in water for 1 minute 3-Play reed for no more than 10 minutes 4-Polish reed table (again) 5-Store reed safely, allowing it to dry Day 3 1-Polish reed table 2-Soak reed in water for 1 minute+ 3-Play reed for no more than 20 minutes 4-Polish reed table (again) 5-Store reed safely, allowing it to dry Day 4+ -Begin gradually working the reed into your circulation and gradually increase the amount of time you play that reed -Begin making small adjustments to the reed if necessary (with files, a wet piece of 320 sandpaper twice the size of your thumbnail, or a reed knife) -Polish the reed table every few days until it stays flat and smooth Long-Term Maintenance From the very beginning of the life of a reed, it starts dying. A reed must successfully withstand many elements that are working to destroy it: (1) getting wet and drying out (can cause warping), (2) human saliva breaking down the fibers, (3) oils or particles from the mouth clogging the pores, (4) mildew and mold forming (when moisture gets trapped during drying), (5) accidental damage to the tip A good reed maintenance plan attempts to slow down or reduce the severity/likelihood that the reed is exposed to these elements.

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Tips to Make Reeds Last Longer • • •

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Store reeds in a good quality reed guard, not in the plastic or cardboard sleeve they came in when purchased. When first playing a reed, I first soak it in water for 1-3 minutes rather than just putting it (dry) into my mouth. This is mostly a personal preference, but I believe it helps fight against element #2 (human saliva breaking down the fibers). Have 4-8 (or more) good reeds available at any time and rotate them. I keep 8 reeds in circulation and I play on 1 per day (2 per day for extensive playing). This will make all your reeds last longer simply because they are not being used as much. In addition, a rotation system allows the player a much better chance of “finding a good reed” because s/he already knows how each of the 4-8 reeds in circulation play. I think this is a much more reliable approach than picking a reed fresh out of a box and hoping it will work for that day. Periodically polish the table of the reed using the back side of 600 sandpaper on top of a piece of glass. This reduces the warp that forms over time in the reed table. Sometimes, polishing the back of a reed can “rejuvenate” it slightly if that reed has begun to perform poorly. Do not play your instrument right after consuming any food product. Any amounts of sugar, food particles, coffee, etc. in your mouth will work their way into your reed and will shorten its life by clogging the pores too much or breaking down the structural strength of the fibers.

Effects of Humidity & Temperature on Reed Performance Because the reed is a piece of wood and has been made from a (once living) plant, it will change as environmental humidity and temperature changes. Changes due to humidity are most noticeable in dry climates when it rains because there is a much larger difference in humidity between a normal dry day and a rainy day. To the player, a reed that has changed due to a humidity change will either feel harder/softer or more/less responsive. Changes in temperature will have the same effects (harder/softer or more/less responsive), and are usually only noticeable as the global seasons gradually change. Take humidity and temperature changes into account in the following situations: • •

If your current reeds seem to suddenly be playing poorly, wait several days before trying to adjust them. If the humidity or temperature has mere changed temporarily, your reeds should return to normal soon. If you are breaking in new reeds or are waiting to adjust newly broken-in reeds and a storm passes (for example), wait a day or two for the weather to return to normal before you make any adjustments.

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