Hi All
I just cant get my head around what the difference is between a soft and hard reed (or indeed a synthetic v cane reed for that matter) and wondered if anyone can clarify a few points for me as its bugging the hell out of me.
Lets start by taking a simple/basic view of the physical things that happen.
I blow into a mouthpiece and this causes the reed to vibrate which in turn causes the air around it to vibrate which generates a sound wave.
This sound wave then travels down the length of the metal tube which is my sax and depending on how long I make the tube the note becomes a higher or lower one.
But what is making this noise or sound?
Is it the vibration of the air itself or the reed?
If its the frequency and wavelength of the sound wave in the air then what difference does the material of the stiffness of thing (reed) making the air vibrate make to the final noise coming out of my horn?
Hence my question.
I keep asking myself is a harder reed due to its stiffness more consistent in generating sound waves whilst a softer reed might flap around due to it being softer especially at the extreme ends fo a horns range?
I know some people like to use 2.0 or 2.5 strength reeds whilst others like to use 3.5 strength reeds say but if you are using the same horn and playing in the middle register surely they are going to sound the same if I make a recording and then play the recordings back and listen to them.
It seems obvious to me (and from personal experience) that a softer reed v a stiffer reed will behave differently at the two extreme ends of a horns range so can accept that if I were to play a 3.5 v a 2.0 reed that I could get better control out of the harder reed especially in the higher register than the softer one but the 3.5 is just so damn hard for me to play and usually most things are played with a middle 2 octave or so range
Obviously the sound I hear when playing is very different to the sound that someone sitting in front of me is hearing but when I record something with a soft or hard or cane or synthetic reed I just cant tell the difference if its in the middle octaves but they do sound different when I am playing them (maybe vibration through my jaw distorts things who knows).
Anyway at the risk of opening up a can of worms wondered of anyone would care to comment on what actually the difference between reeds is in terms of generating a 'noise' or note is concerned but I think it will all stem from my opening few lines as to what actually causes the sound wave and noise that is generated and whether it is the reed itself of the vibration of air that passes down the horn that was created by the reed.
So maybe my question should be is a middle C generated by a soft or hard or cane or synthetic reed the same in all cases as it makes the air vibrate in identical ways or are the sound waves created by each one different from each other.
(Perhaps I should ask this on a Physics forum because its obviously going to have something to do with sound waves and their frequency and amplitude and wavelength)
Just for information purposes I almost always play with a 2.5 Legere Signature Series reed on a tenor horn as it seems to offer the right amount of resistance for my abilities and plays well from top to bottom (for me) on my mouthpiece.
I would be extremely interested to hear peoples views on this subject as I am just really curious as to why some prefer one type of reed over another (in terms of material and stiffness) and why they would make any difference to the 'noise" coming out of the horn
I just cant get my head around what the difference is between a soft and hard reed (or indeed a synthetic v cane reed for that matter) and wondered if anyone can clarify a few points for me as its bugging the hell out of me.
Lets start by taking a simple/basic view of the physical things that happen.
I blow into a mouthpiece and this causes the reed to vibrate which in turn causes the air around it to vibrate which generates a sound wave.
This sound wave then travels down the length of the metal tube which is my sax and depending on how long I make the tube the note becomes a higher or lower one.
But what is making this noise or sound?
Is it the vibration of the air itself or the reed?
If its the frequency and wavelength of the sound wave in the air then what difference does the material of the stiffness of thing (reed) making the air vibrate make to the final noise coming out of my horn?
Hence my question.
I keep asking myself is a harder reed due to its stiffness more consistent in generating sound waves whilst a softer reed might flap around due to it being softer especially at the extreme ends fo a horns range?
I know some people like to use 2.0 or 2.5 strength reeds whilst others like to use 3.5 strength reeds say but if you are using the same horn and playing in the middle register surely they are going to sound the same if I make a recording and then play the recordings back and listen to them.
It seems obvious to me (and from personal experience) that a softer reed v a stiffer reed will behave differently at the two extreme ends of a horns range so can accept that if I were to play a 3.5 v a 2.0 reed that I could get better control out of the harder reed especially in the higher register than the softer one but the 3.5 is just so damn hard for me to play and usually most things are played with a middle 2 octave or so range
Obviously the sound I hear when playing is very different to the sound that someone sitting in front of me is hearing but when I record something with a soft or hard or cane or synthetic reed I just cant tell the difference if its in the middle octaves but they do sound different when I am playing them (maybe vibration through my jaw distorts things who knows).
Anyway at the risk of opening up a can of worms wondered of anyone would care to comment on what actually the difference between reeds is in terms of generating a 'noise' or note is concerned but I think it will all stem from my opening few lines as to what actually causes the sound wave and noise that is generated and whether it is the reed itself of the vibration of air that passes down the horn that was created by the reed.
So maybe my question should be is a middle C generated by a soft or hard or cane or synthetic reed the same in all cases as it makes the air vibrate in identical ways or are the sound waves created by each one different from each other.
(Perhaps I should ask this on a Physics forum because its obviously going to have something to do with sound waves and their frequency and amplitude and wavelength)
Just for information purposes I almost always play with a 2.5 Legere Signature Series reed on a tenor horn as it seems to offer the right amount of resistance for my abilities and plays well from top to bottom (for me) on my mouthpiece.
I would be extremely interested to hear peoples views on this subject as I am just really curious as to why some prefer one type of reed over another (in terms of material and stiffness) and why they would make any difference to the 'noise" coming out of the horn