Free Reed Vs. ?

[Stevie D]

if we play a free reed instrument, what is the alternative? A fixed reed? And what would that be? Woodwinds? My clarinet playing father never heard a term other then woodwind. So, who knows?

[Łukasz Martynowicz]

The answer is beating reed.

The difference is that in free reeds, the tongue swings freely through the opening in the shoe, while the beating reed is slightly larger than the opening that it's fitted onto so it is beating against it to cut the airflow.

[Wolf Molkentin]

Lost my original reply to the smartphone nirvana, so I just add the following: the free reed vibrates more or less in its own frequency, and thus has to be tuned, whereas the beating reed is just stimulating an air column to vibrate in its own - variable - frequency (by beating either against a mouthpiece or, in case of a double reed, one against the other).

 

Besides, in German nomenclature it would be said that a reed is either beating freely (free reed = durchschlagende Zunge) or not...

[Stevie D]

And this is why I asked here. beating, I would never have guessed as the opposite! Thanks to both Lukasz and Wolf for your help

[brandon]

...an incarcerated reed?

[Tradewinds Ted]

indentured reed!

 

(Edit: I've seen some clarinet reeds that have been badly chewed!)

Edited February 11, 2015 by Tradewinds Ted

[alex_holden]

Expensive reed.

[Bob Michel]

Required reeding.

 

Bob Michel

Near Philly

[maki]

Slave reed.

[David Barnert]

For my squeezebox, I paid quite a fee!

But it got me to thinking:"Let's see...

The cost is quite nice

If you think what the price

Would have been if the reeds weren't free!"