BASIC PRINCIPALS OF REED ADJUSTMENT

“cane may only ever be removed, never added”

David Vanbiesbrouck

1 The heart, remember that the heart is the thickest part of

the reed other than the spine in the heart, and the bark parts

of the reed that haven’t been scraped.

Scrape the heart:

Pros

• Reed vibrates more freely

i • Reed takes on darker tone, lower overtones

• Reed response is better

Cons

B • Lowers pitch in a way that is hard to remedy

• Notes, especially C (third space) and G (second line) sag

very low in pitch

• Upper register becomes very un-focused, and de-stabilize

Takeaway

• If you nd that the reed is too hard and taking cane out of

the tip is not helping, scrape lightly in all 4 quadrants of the

heart.

• Scrape only a couple scrapes per quadrant at rst and test

the reed so you don’t over-scrape

3 The Tip, the most important part of reed adjustment.

Because it is also the thinnest and cane should be scraped

2 The back, this area is largely completely o the reed outward from the centre of the tip,

the hardest to describe. The you must use a plaque when adjusting the tip.

back helps to stabilize the reed

and is usually worked on when Scrape the tip:

the reed’s tip is 80% complete

Pros

Scrape this area:

• Reed vibrates more freely

• Reed response is better

Pros
• Stabilizes the reed when you also clip, especially in high

• Resistance lowered
register

• Warmer sound, especially in

low register
Cons

• Lowers pitch so you must also clip in conjunction with

Cons
scraping

• Lowers pitch overall

• The sound of the reed may become tinny if you don’t also

• Could decrease ease of scrape the sides of the tip and the corners of the tip

response

Takeaway

• If you nd that the reed is too hard, start with the tip before
scraping from the heart.

• Scraping here is a dusting motion. It is very easy to scrape

o the side or corner of the tip, rendering the reed
useless…