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Toni
(417 points)
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Hello everyone. I've been feeling a little blue these past few days due to my constant stammering and hacking of Weber's Concerto No.1. I've been practicing the piece for a while and at one point was very satisfied with my progress. Of course, only a few days from the audition something has to go wrong, right? Well...things did go wrong. I took a break from playing for a while during the Christmas holidays and came back a few days after Christmas. I unpacked my clarinet as usual and reached for my good reeds only to find that they've all warped! None of them are worth squat anymore! I guess I could try to get to the music store, but will I be able to break in the new reed before the audition. Needless to say, I've been practicing with the warped reeds and my good tonguing, tone, and overall playing have vanished! The agony of not being prepared is slowly creeping up on me. I was practicing just now and thought to get all of my bad feelings out for a clean slate when I go back. I think I've said enough. No one really has to reply to this. It's kind of a personal outing for me. Thanks anyway!
-Toni
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BariSaxi101
(20 points)
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Been there done that, but my instrument could squash yours. Clarinet is soooo unpredictable ,you could play it perfectly one day and the next its sux. Have you named your clari?net
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jvanullen
(173 points)
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If you want to talk about unpredictable, lets talk about Bassoon and Oboe. Their reeds are beasts.
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AllanMc
(26 points)
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Here's a trick to unwarp reeds. Place the wet reed on the mouthpiece and set it against the palm of your hand to create a seal at the bottom. Suck some air out so that the reed seals against the mouthpiece. Remove your mouth and wait for the reed to pop back into place. The reed should now no longer be warped.
Another unrelated piece of advice. Since Weber is very technical, and you were away from it for awhile, start out slow. I mean, painfully slowly. If your fingers aren't accustomed to it and you try to do it as fast as you could before, you WILL make mistakes, and you WILL reinforce these in your mind. If you start off slowly, you can train your brain to do it right.
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tmheimer
(43 points)
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Keeping your reed(s) moist (not soaked) insures they will wear out long before they will ever warp. But you can almost always get the warps out of one by first getting it real wet. Next, place the tip on the mouthpiece face (flat area) with the bottom of the reed out to one side (so the reed is perpendicular to the mouthpiece). Carefully use your thumb to pin the tip of the reed to the MP face. Even more carefully, use your pointer finger to "tick" the bottom of the reed that is sticking out to the side. Sort of like using your finger to motion to someone "come here". Don't tick too hard and break the reed. This will eventually take all the warps out. But reeds are like alcoholics--they can only be warped and straightened out so many times then they are finished. So try to keep the reed moist.-I monitor my "in use" reed at various times each day and often take the mouthpice/reed with me even without the clarinet. Oh, also, keep your "in use" best reed always on the mouthpiece. And keep the whole thing moist. If your mouthpiece cap has an open top or pin holes in it, duct tape it over so no air gets in to start the reed warping process. If you use reed holders, the cheapo plastic ones are better at keeping warps away than the metal ones. And, with your spare reeds in the holder, wet them often so they also don't warp.
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