Rico Plasticover
how to keep clarinet reeds from chipping so quickly?
my 9th grade clarinet student goes through like a reed a day. she stores them correctly, in a reedguard case. she’s very careful when the reed is on the mouthpiece. we’ve tried rico, mitchell lurie, and vandoren reeds, but they still break quickly. i was wondering if there are any other reasons reeds break quick, or any stronger reeds anyone could recommend. she has a rico plasticover reed for marching band, but i don’t want her using that for concert band or for practices.
If we’re talking chips and not splits then we have a ‘banging them on something’ problem. Reeds don’t normally chip all by themselves through normal playing and when they do, it’s not daily.
Splits, on the other hand, aren’t uncommon at all and could be due to bad quality, too dry, playing to rough, etc…
Chips are nearly always the result of hitting something such as the teeth, another player, the mouthpiece cap, or the ligature (put the ligature on before putting on the reed), etc… Or the result of damage on the mouthpiece itself.
The strength of the reed won’t matter – if you look at the tip of a 1 and compare it to a 5; the difference there isn’t really all that great to the eye – they’re all very thin.
There’s no way that you’re getting consistent bad quality from the brands you’re using – those companies just don’t turn out consistent garbage.
That means we have a player issue here and that she’s not “very careful” after all. She’s likely doing something she doesn’t know she’s doing.
First check her reedguard and make sure there’s nothing down in there where the reed tip goes. Like a piece of old reed.
If we’re chipping on the corners then the reed isn’t centered on the mouthpiece (causing it to crack on the corner and then chip off when hit against anything – even lips). Check the position of the reed against the mouthpiece rail – it should be very nearly even all around.
If she puts the cap on with the reed attached or puts the ligature on after placing the reed then she may be hitting the reed at that point.
Check the mouthpiece itself – is it chipped anywhere along the tip or rails? If so, trash it.
There’s nothing wrong with Rico plasticover reeds for a student. There are even some professional situations that those are good for. That’s not your issue either. Does she chip those as well?
A clarinet teacher or professional player would be a lot of help and might take only a few minutes to isolate the problem.
Make sure that it’s not either of 1) she does it to avoid playing 2) a classmate is doing it
Add: and if nobody ever mentioned to her, don’t handle the reed tip at all. Flexing the tip of a reed weakens it considerably and makes it prone to cracking.
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