An Unlikely Scott Hamilton

[theorgangrinder]

I have to chime in here, not being a musician or anything. But at the recording session for this CD, Scott did the same thing. He probably changed that reed a half dozen times. Perhaps it is like an emotional tick or OCD thing?

Pattye

Edited March 3, 2011 by Gene

[JSngry]

Some of it is reflexive, but make no mistake - reeds can be very temperamental. They can go from good to bad literally in a second (although not usually), They can also get "second winds" like a runner, especially if a few parts of a few fibers go bad and you can get them relatively out of play by shifting the reed's position on the mouthpiece ever so slightly. You're looking at a piece of fibrous wood (which in all liklihood has not been cut as evenly/symmetrically as it should have been in the first place) being called to vibrate while interacting with fluctuating temperatures and moisture levels. It's pretty primitive really - get a piece of wood, cut it up, and make it vibrate. But when it works, ain't nothing better.

Reeds were usually cool up until forty or so years ago...something to do with the cane crops, regions, something. But I'm old enough to have remembered when the things were reasonably consistent & reliable, although it was long enough ago that it all seems like a dream now...

[golfcrazy1984]

All things considered, wouldn't it make sense then to test out your reeds, find the ones you can work with, then make sure you've got an "almost there" or "close enough" reed in the instrument when you hit the bandstand? In Hamilton's case, then we'd be spared the endless "WTF" and worse expressions he makes.

I USUALLY try to have 4 or 5 "performance ready" reeds ready to go for any gig. Perhaps with his travels, the different climate changes have something to do with his reeds. Maybe he remembers 30 years ago when reeds were good and is just frustrated!

Maybe he is the type of player that just unwraps a box of reeds and plays a brand new reed that plays well.