Due to some health problems, more than a year ago I was banned from playing my beautiful clarinet. However I am happy to report that, as of yesterday, the ban has been lifted!
Tonight I stuck a reed in my mouth, pieced my Buffet R13 back together, and played 5 minutes of long-tones. While my clarinet could use a little cork grease, my embouchure many more minutes (hours) of long-tones, and my fingers some cleaner transitions between octaves, it felt nice to place again and a little more than mildly invigorating. So after my long-tones I dug out a good old Hite study, put a fresh battery in my metronome, and stumbled through the study stopping nearly ever 2 measures because my embouchure was gushing air.
I was impressed at my ability to blow a few throat tone As with really nice tone quality and a few nice Es just over the break. Last week when I wasn't sure if I would play again I thought about how I would really miss that E and I was happy to start to re-acquaint myself with it tonight, even if only for a fraction of a second.
I ended my session by skimming a few pages of the Bonade book I bought right before I stopped playing. I skimmed a few pages but paused and more thoroughly read the section on reed adjustments. Like most clarinetists, I've always been very picky about reeds and often struggle with warping, reed irregularity and inconsistency. Bonade recommends a reed rush for scraping reeds as opposed to razor blades, knives, or sandpaper (though he mentions the proper use for a sandpaper file later). Now I'm considering investing in a reed rush. They seem pretty reasonably priced and might be fun to play around with.
Any recommendations on reed rushes?
image from: http://www.runyonproducts.com/reed.rush.html
