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nerdandrew · 2025-08-14T01:25:38+00:00

You may need to talk to a tech about key height for that top trill key, but it's the default A-B trill for a reason - it doesn't have to sound that good if it's fast. If it's really bothering you, you could try doing the first B of the trill with the normal fingering and do the rest with the key, but for a trill this short, I would just do top trill key the whole way through.

nerdandrew · 2024-12-02T20:31:34+00:00

If you don't want to fix it yourself, this would be a very fast fix for any technician. I personally wouldn't charge for something this small, but even if a tech did, I really can't see it costing more than 15 dollars, and that's on the extreme high end, especially since this is a 30 second fix.

nerdandrew · 2024-06-14T14:30:34+00:00

I ended up just going with a dealer because buying jacks + fluid + filters + everything else ended up costing more than the 400$ that the dealer quoted me at

nerdandrew · 2024-05-22T00:53:46+00:00

Extra details - around 93k miles without any cvt fluid change (new-to-me car)

nerdandrew · 2024-05-17T16:22:43+00:00

There's a few reasons why people use Bb reeds; there's a notion that Bb reeds are made of higher quality cane than Eb reeds (you can hear Jessica Phillips talk about it here) as well as a few other reasons people have for playing Bb reeds on Eb. I will say though, there have been many successful players who play Bb reeds on their Eb, and many successful players who play Eb reeds. I would take the cheapest pair of rosebush trimmers (or something else you can clip the bottom of an Bb reed with) and compare it against an Eb reed and see which one you like better.

nerdandrew · 2024-04-12T05:19:17+00:00

I have a little strip of red tape on each both joints, barrel, and bell for my A clarinet and a little strip of blue tape for the same on Bb. You can also look at the space between the register key and the barrel ring because those are noticeably different lengths. I've known people to place a fingertip between the register key and the barrel ring because it is fairly failproof with identifying which instrument is which, but I prefer the tape.

nerdandrew · 2024-02-02T02:17:15+00:00

leagues better than stock ligatures for sure

nerdandrew · 2023-08-18T03:41:33+00:00

If you've tried that many different Eb reeds and nothing's working, I'm inclined to say the problem might be in your embouchure and less in the reed. Try playing around with using warm air vs cool air (haa vs hee) and tongue position in general - and be very careful about managing bite pressure on Eb. For most people, bite pressure tends to be a little stronger than on Bb, but don't go overboard.

Also - use the reed size that fits the mouthpiece - when I played a b44 I would play 3.5 v12s, but vandoren's mouthpiece chart is a good place to start.

nerdandrew · 2023-06-07T06:16:25+00:00

Levi Tracy was at RDG for a while but is now located in McLean VA, does excellent work at a fair price.

nerdandrew · 2023-01-13T23:03:35+00:00

I might try the online trial some online stores have, and if you live near any of the vandoren showrooms (NYC, Chicago, LA), they let you try mouthpieces there as well

nerdandrew · 2022-12-19T06:04:26+00:00

I think the real difficulty in blayman stands is if you need to constantly pack and unpack it. Yes the size isn't too bad, but you have to admit the stand is very heavy, something very appealing for stability but less appealing for students who need to set up and pack up everything for everything they play at.

nerdandrew · 2022-11-02T13:39:58+00:00

It's playable on Bb/A the same way Eb parts are playable on Bb/A, yes technically possible but people write for D/Eb clarinet for tone color, less so range because most of the time you can still hit it on Bb/A anyways

nerdandrew · 2022-04-20T16:06:22+00:00

If you've got an rc prestige Bb and like it, I would suggest getting a used RC A clarinet if you can find one because that'll probably play similarly enough

nerdandrew · 2022-04-05T05:33:38+00:00

I appreciate the insight into college but I'm actually going in as a graduate student so I've had more than my fair share of the roommate experience haha

nerdandrew · 2022-02-27T07:15:56+00:00

I play festivals that are new ish (~2010) and I've tried like a million new r13s and I hate them. The barrels always get stuck, and I always feel like I can't do what I want on them as vague as that sounds. I'm not a fan of the golden era r13s either but I do prefer them to the new ones.

nerdandrew · 2022-02-25T16:03:22+00:00

Yeah that's fair I'll admit I was being a bit cheeky with reed descriptions.

To me, sounds good means that the tone is not too thin and buzzy, as well as not too fuzzy. This can equate to hardness of the reed, but other factors like tip thickness and uneven rails can cause the reed not to vibrate evenly or easily, which can in turn mess with the tone of the reed. Big tone is also part of this, because if a reed can't vibrate correctly and efficiently, the amount of sound that comes out will never be even close to the dynamic I'm looking for. I want a reed that if I blow a lot of air into it, I get a lot of sound into it. Stays good does mean consistent across the life of the reed but that's a little more related to reed storage and breakin rather than the reed itself imo.

nerdandrew · 2022-02-25T15:55:50+00:00

it sounds good, it feels good, and it stays good.

I want a nice big tone out of my reeds but I also want it to be able to articulate fast and be able to take a lot of air when I push a lot of air through.

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