MB says an interesting thing about the reed.
"Only with a single blow, I see the quality of the reed."
Maybe as the other professional players, MB chooses one reed from lots
of them, and throws away the others.
MB play style requires a sensitive response for reeds, so reed-selection
must be very important .
MB can put a number of "not-excellent" reeds in trash box. but I cannot, because reeds are not cheap. Yes, I need a compromise at a reed selection.
I mainly use Vandoren ZZ 2.5. A few years before, I could get 4 usable
reeds in a box of 5 reeds, however, recently only 1 or 2 usable reeds that
I get.
That wastes my pocket money.
So, this time I have challenged to tune up unusable reeds.
The purpose is to get a quality for playing MB phrases like below.
Some reed tuning tools are seen in the market, but at first I used a file.
I have learned reed improvement is not impossible with a file, but also
have learned "it is a bother !!"
Therefore I purchased one of tools (called ReedGeek that great David Sanborn
uses).
For this purpose, this is a helpful tool. I can sharpen reeds easily. I
will not have to throw many reeds into the trash box.
However, it is still bothering to remove and set reed from/to MPS at every
sharpening ( I am tired to turn the ligature screw ).
So, I tried to sharpen reed setting on MPS. This is easier.
But, never forget to sandwich something between the reed and the MPS, otherwise
I sharpen MPS.
Where should be sharpened? As mentioned in some textbooks, the part on
the rail and front edge area are effective for getting a good response.
I recorded the sound before and after.
[Original]
[Adjusting]
[Adjusted]
I am satisfied to have a way to save reeds to be thrown away, however,
it is difficult to make a really superb reed from such an operation.
Really good reeds is really good from original, --- or I have to improve my skill.