Rods for clarinet and saxophone: what toughness to choose?
A 2 ½ isn't the same for all manufacturers and a tougher cane isn't better. How to read the hardness, what changes with the cut and when it's best to get up or down.
The toughness of a cane indicates how much resistance they have at vibration: low numbers (1 ½, 2) are more soft and respond with little air and high (3 ½, 4 or more) are tougher and demand more air and more control of the embezzlement. Most beginners in clarinet and saxophone start from 2 to 2 ½ and get up from half point to half as soon as the sound asks for them, and at some time.
The trap is that number isn't universal: each manufacturer measures his or her way and even inside a same box there are more bad rods than others. That's why, rather than looking for "the right number," what you're looking for is the cane that works with your nozzle and with your mouth.
To sum up
- Hardness is an overall scale, almost always 1 to 5 at half points, but it changes from one manufacturer to another and even between its lines.
- Harder isn't better: the right cane's the one that answers throughout the record without you have to bite or force.
- The nozzle commands: a very open nozzle usually requires smoother rods and a tighter and tighter closed ones.
- It goes up half a point as the cane closes at the sharp, sounds low or buzzes, and goes down if you get tired quickly and bad doesn't come out.
- A satin cane usually feels more agile and brilliant than an unpitted cane with the same number.
What does the number of hardness mean
The number indicates the rigidity of the cane: how much air and lips pressure you need to start vibrating.A soft cane responds with little air and is easy to make sound, but it's easier to close. A hard one resists more, calls for a faster air and a firmer embocture, and in turn better holds the sound as you play strong or at an acute register.
| Number | How you feel | Who usually uses it |
|---|---|---|
| 1 ½ to 2 | That's very soft: lt's with little air | First weeks, children and embulations that are still growing up |
| 2 ½ to 3 | mean: balance between response and monitoring | Many students after the first months |
| 3 ½ to 4 or more | Hard: demand fast air and a firm pursuit | Advanced musics whose nozzle needs her |
- There's no universal scale. A 2 ½ from a manufacturer may feel as a 3 from another and two lines from the same manufacturer may not match.
- There are other nomenclatures. Some use words (soft, mean, hard), knaprooms or signs as "+." The equivalency boards that circulate are close.
- The synthetic have their own scale. Don't assume that a synthetic number feels just as bad as the same number in natural cane.
- Inside a box there's variation. That's why the rods are tested and classified, as you'll see later.
The nozzle also decides
The same cane behaves differently as a nozzle. What most influences is the opening of the tip, that's to say, the separation between the end of the cane and the end of the nozzle, and the length of the curve on which the cane stands.
| Closer nozzle | Most open nozzle | |
|---|---|---|
| Roast that you usually ask for | Harder | Cleaner |
| Feeling | More control and resistance, less air | More air and volume, more flexibility |
| If the cane isn't suitable | With soft cane, the sound's closed and low | with hard cane, and with his mouth tiring quickly |
That's why the question "What number do you use?" doesn't say much without the nozzle next door and if you change nozzle, get ready to re-prove purities. Also remember that the clarinet, high saxophone and tenor rods have different sizes and do not interchange them. We explain this in [how to choose your first saxophone.]](/blog/como-elegir-tu-primer-saxofon) and how to choose your first clarinet.
cuts: satin and other details
Two rods of the same number can feel very different by how they are cut. It's useful to know their parts: heelthe thick area with bark that holds the clamp and palaand the clear and clear area that vibrates, and heartand the thickest part of the centre of the shovel, and tippoint, the thinner border, that's aligned with the nozzle's tip.
| Corte | How to Recognize | What usually changes |
|---|---|---|
| Without limbing | The bark ends as an U where the shovel begins | More resistance and body, darker sound and somewhat slower response |
| Clean (or French cut) | A thin fringes with no bark just before the shovel | A faster response and a more brilliant sound, something more soft than an unpitted one of the same number |
| Expand from shovel and tiptoe thickness | The manufacturer's description indicates more than just to his face. | They change their response and their color, they're adjustments for when you have a stable sound. |
The light rods are very common and the saxophone have both, and some lines have been designed for classical and other jazz and popular music. What changes between them is the cut and thickness, so the number alone doesn't tell you how it's going to feel.
Is your cane too hard or too soft?
| Signal | That's too bad. | That's too soft. |
|---|---|---|
| Sonido | Soaked with air around and little centre | Unbleached or nosed with a low body |
| Serious notes | That's how bad they get out or get out with a blow. | They get out easy but they open as they play strong |
| Acute notes | They get out but with a lot of effort | Closed, shut down or fall |
| Filling | He tends to get high, more so if you bite | It tends to get low, especially at the sharp |
| Cansancio | The mouth's tiring in a few minutes | He barely gets tired, but his cane doesn't hold you while playing strong. |
Before blaming the cane, she discard what does not depend on her: a crooked or malaligned cane with the tiptoe of the nozzle, a loose or too tight clamp, a scattering nozzle or a leaking into the shoes. A new cane doesn't fix any of these things.
When to get up (or down) with toughness
To rise with toughness isn't a level rise. Many professional musicians use mean dupurities, because what matters is that the cane works with their nozzle and with the sound they seek. These are the signs that it may be time to get up:
- The sharp notes are closed or lowered even if your air's well supported.
- When playing strong, the sound will open and lose centre.
- The new rods in your box feel soft from day one.
- Your teacher notes that your mouth's already holding more than the cane holds.
And the signs to come down: you get tired in a few minutes, the serious doesn't come out, the sound's blown or you start biting the nozzle. To make the change:
- A half or a half point up or down, but not an entire point.
- He buys few rods of new hardness and allernates them with earlier ones for a few weeks.
- Take them both to class and play the same passage with each with your face to your teacher.
- If after a reasonable time the new one keeps tiring you up, come back to the old one: the right toughness will let you play best today.
How to Test and Ranked A New Box
- He numerals every cane with pencil at his heel, onto his bark, and lays down his date.
- Look at them at a counterpoint: The darkest area of the heart should be focused and the shovel, with both sides attached. An asymmetric cane usually answers worse.
- Smoke and take only a few minutes on the first day and add some time every day during the first week.
- Write down how each one feels: good response, opaque, hard or soft sound.
- Claphis them: best, for tests and presentations, right, to study, and those that do not work, for exercise or to rule out.
Some rods can be adjusted: a very fine sackle on the shovel softens them, and cut a hair from the tipple with a strap tightens them. They are technologies to learn with your teacher, because it's easy to pass and ruin a cane that had arrangement. For daily rotation, drying and keeping, look how to clear and care for a clarinet and how to clear a saxophone.
Climate and rods: Bogota with hot ground
The rods are of natural cane and they react to moisture. Many musicians note that in the cold and dry climate of Bogotá the cane dries quickly while they touch and feel more rigidly while in hot and wet ground it seizes earlier and deforms if it doesn't dry well.
- If you travel to another climate, carry rods of your usual hardness and some half a point above or under.
- Fist it always before you touch them and in a dry climate you may have to have a few more seconds.
- Don't leave her in the sun or inside the car: the heat deforms her.
In time you will learn how to read your own rods. Meanwhile, the most efficient thing to do with someone listening to you: at [Clarinet Classes]](/clases/clarinete) and [saxophone]](/clases/saxofon)To choose cane as part of his first few weeks of work.
Frequently asked questions
What's the cane tightness to wear if I'm starting?
Most beginners start from 2 to 2 ½, depending on the manufacturer and nozzle. If it costs a lot to get sound, try half a point softer and if it sounds open and low, half a point tougher.
Can I use the same toughness at the clarinet and saxophone?
The number may be similar but the rods are not exchanged and the sensation changes with each nozzle. If you play both instruments, select the toughness of each individual.
How long does a cane last?
It depends how much you touch and how you put them and how you put them with them and how good they are. With rotation and good drying, a daily cane usually lasts a few weeks. When they lose light, they close them or spots appear, it's time to change them.
Do synthetic rods serve as beginners?
They can be useful: they last longer, they are more pairs with each other and we do not have to moist them. They feel different from the natural ones and their scale of hardness isn't equivalent, so prove them with your teacher before you get completely passed.