Simple, three step reed finishing process 

Balancing front to back in addition to side to side is like taking the shackles off the reed. I've liked my reeds since finding a good brand for me and learning to balance side to side, now I LOVE them! Thanks, Tom. This is really a paradigm changing approach. The reed is now a musical vehicle rather than a challenge standing in the way of progress.

Thank you so much!! You are truly a fantastic teacher. 😊😊

Best video ever for a clarinetist

Thanks so much for all the time and information you’ve put into these videos, Tom. Reeds have been the most frustrating part of playing since the very beginning. Now my reed finishing is getting better with each attempt, and most importantly, playing the clarinet is becoming easier and much more fun.

Thank you very much Maestro, your teaching is very understandable and simple, while waiting for your equipment I have already done some experiments and I managed to improve my reeds a lot, it had never happened with these results!

Thank you so much! Now I can play my reeds!!!

BRILLIANT! Thanks 🎉🎉🎉❤

Glad to see you are doing well

Thanks for all your efforts

Your clar. playing is very nice! ❤🎉

Wonderful Class on finishing reeds Mr. Tom. Thank you for sharing your experience, I think the basics you explained on finishing can somehow be similar to the Oboe reeds. Great video!!

I know this is an older video, but it would be nice if you could make a new one with more explanation of the front to back balance, what to do with the middle third, and what you’re looking for when testing.

I only took 3 lessons from Harold Wright, but he did tell me that he didn’t like the V12’s. He said he’d always used the Traditional model.

Thanks for such a great video. Will this work also for saxophone reeds?

I really appreciate these videos, they are a real service. Two questions: Do you flatten the bottoms of the reeds first to make sure they sit flat on the mouthpiece table, and do you recommend using a stiffer reed than usual and working it down to your normal resistance? I ask these questions having read David Pino's book "The Clarinet and Clarinet Playing" and these are part of his reed adjustment methods. He, as you probably know, recommends we all move on to making our own reeds from blanks! Something I'm not ready for yet.

Would you recommend lower reed number than the mouthpiece, or higher?

Hi, This is a great video! I'm trying to purchase one of these sanding blocks but I don't know where to find them. What keyword would you recommend to search?

What strength of reed did you start with?

Is there any concern about sanding on the glass itself? Creation of glass dust on a reed?

Tom, thank you so much for your efforts to make our life easier!!! I have a question about the back side of the reed, I couldn't find the answer in the ATG. How should I know how much "wood" should I take from the back side (left/right) to keep the reed in a balance, what is the test method about? Because if they are unbalanced behind the energy flowing back and reflected from the back will not be inline if the back is not also balanced, or am I wrong? I would really appreciate very much a short (or even a long) explanation. I ruined quite few reeds ending up with a too thin tip, because they were "heavy" Regards, D.

This is just my observation, but I find that the very tip is usually pretty even, but it's the area just behind the tip and along the sides that is imbalanced. If I finish the tip first, then work on one ear or side, then the tip ends up with one side very thin (since every pass of the sandpaper goes over the tip with the ATG system), and I am more likely to get "chips" and "whistle" squeaks. For this reason, I usually leave tip finishing for the very end. How do you avoid over-thinning one side of the tip if you do balancing later in the process?

Great video. Thank you. I play cane for sound, recording & Legere reeds for practice (when I’m ready to give up on the cane for the day. Do you have any experience with refinishing synthetic reeds? Does it work?

Why just start with a slightly thinner reed? (Like a #3 instead of a #4)