Bridle (not bridal) troubles
Remember this reed problem I was having? It turns out that the reed I'm playing is very sensitive (maybe all reeds are) to the adjustments in the bridle. I found that when I play, the bridle often falls toward the binding making the reed sound like s**t. If I squeezed on the bridle to keep in it place, then it would mess up the shape and I would get a pretty bad sound from that. It took me a while to get the bridle re-adjusted to where it was and the reed sounded good again.
The reed is extremely sensitive to the adjustments you make with the bridle. Squeezing it just makes it worse. So then the problem becomes, what do you do when the you've got everything adjusted just so and the reed is playing well but the bridle keeps falling down as you play?
Once again, Paddy comes to the rescue. He tells me to put the bridle where it plays well and then place a small piece of masking tape very lightly on the reed just underneath the bridle to hold it up. The piece of tape should be very small and just enough to hold the bridle up but not interfere with the vibration of the reed.
Problem solved. Thanks Patrick!
BTW, I finally ordered my Ready Tie cane from Howard Music. I'll let you know how it goes. In the meantime, read this
The reed is extremely sensitive to the adjustments you make with the bridle. Squeezing it just makes it worse. So then the problem becomes, what do you do when the you've got everything adjusted just so and the reed is playing well but the bridle keeps falling down as you play?
Once again, Paddy comes to the rescue. He tells me to put the bridle where it plays well and then place a small piece of masking tape very lightly on the reed just underneath the bridle to hold it up. The piece of tape should be very small and just enough to hold the bridle up but not interfere with the vibration of the reed.
Problem solved. Thanks Patrick!
BTW, I finally ordered my Ready Tie cane from Howard Music. I'll let you know how it goes. In the meantime, read this
posted by Tony Darnell | 5:51 PM
2 Comments:
Hm, but how do you then deal with readjusting it when there's tape there. My pipe-maker said that when putting it away one should adjust the briddle to be a little to hard for comfortable playing. Ummm, or is that only when putting it away for storage for longer periods of time.
And if one has adjusted it to be perfect, it won't stay that way will it, with changes in climat and such, moisture and what not.
I nudge the bridle on a daily basis, perhaps I shouldn't? lol.
You have to move the tape if you adjust the bridle. It's not a big deal. For this reed, there's usually only one spot where I have to add tape, the rest of the times the bridle stays in place.
Once it's adjusted, I leave it alone until I start hearing bad sounds or there's been a drastic shift in the way the reed plays. This includes when I put it away, I don't do anything special, I just put it back in the case. I also play everyday though so things don't change all that much from day to day.
Sorry it took so long to respond. Been distracted.
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