Nice illustration from Matt Stohrer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfDhaeePf6w 

This is a valuable reminder that the reed can sometimes be the problem..many
players do not flatten the back of their reeds before using them..Many
thanks to Matt for this clear illustration....looks like a good case for
synthetic (non-absorbing) reeds!

 

From: MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com [mailto:MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com]
On Behalf Of MojoBari
Sent: Monday, February 01, 2010 8:54 AM
To: MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [MouthpieceWork] Reed Swelling Video

 

  

Nice illustration from Matt Stohrer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfDhaeePf6w 

This is another time when the unorthodox use of the measuring glass can locate a problem.  Stick a wet reed on the underside of a piece of glass (or use the unetched side of the measuring glass) and look through the glass to locate high spots.  A flat reed sticks perfectly to the glass.  Press with a cloth and dry off the glass to slowly remove excess water or just sit it somewhere and let it dry out a little. 

As the water is reduced, any high spots (shown as darker areas) become more obvious.  It helps to do this with a good bench light, as it's difficult to see the color difference between high and low spots (except on Rico Plasticovers, some of which have a low spots on both rails AND down the middle and you will want to throw away if you do this test).  A perfectly flat reed continues to stick when only barely moist.  As low spots appear, you can press on the reed to get moisture to that area and, when you stop pushing, see if it really is low.

I addition to the centerline being high on natural reeds, it's not uncommon for a high spot right at the end of the vamp that runs perpendicular to the reed.  Don't know why.  This might be why some reeds react to different tensions on a two-screw ligature, as the point would be a fulcrum.  Maybe good, maybe bad.  You can press on the heel of the reed and see if it affects the tip.  Sometimes a low point appears on one rail or maybe the entire tip will lift from the glass (not usually as pronounced with synthetics).

Synthetics aren't perfect, but I haven't found any big bumps like can be found on natural reeds that have swollen.  Fibracell has tested best, but I'm not a fan, so I don't know how much this really proves on synthetic reeds or any reed that isn't really out of whack.  Still, it's interesting.

I've only done this with a few reeds.  I don't actually sit around and test reeds all day.

Mark