Discussion of methods of raising and lowering pitch

[Everett]

There seems to be interest in having a discussion of the methods of raising and lowering pitch. 

   6 hours ago,  Richard Mellish said: 

Taking away material near the fixed end of a reed is of course the usual method of lowering the pitch, but it is irreversible. Where's the harm in adding a tiny dab of removable material near the tip? Something like superglue would be easier to remove than solder, and also lower density, so more amenable to fine adjustment.

You've mentioned this in some other posts and looking to either raise or lower my Jeff duet an approximate semi-tone  it seems like a good alternative to solder/scratch even if non traditional.  The idea deserves it's own thread but a quick question;  does adding material at the base of the reed raise the pitch?

[Jake Middleton-Metcalfe]

Does adding material at the base of the reed raise the pitch.

 

To be honest I have never tried that, but I would imagine that although it may raise the pitch it is likely to make the reed not perform very well. The reed needs to flex, you are unlikely to get that flex when you are adding solder or anything else that is not spring steel to the base of the reeds, especially on a bass reed where most of the flexing is happening near the clamp end, higher pitched reeds flex most a bit higher up but its going to be the same problem. Its not such a problem adding solder to the tip as the very tip is not really flexing at all on a bass reed which is the context in which it is usually used.

 

What I have said here is a guess buts its based on experiences of making reeds by hand.  

Edited September 18, 2021 by Jake Middleton-Metcalfe

[Theo]

I’ve seen reeds that had the pitch raised by adding solder near the fixed end.  It completely ruins the performance of the reed.  It still makes a sound but the volume is drastically reduced.  Removing the solder restored the reeds performance in the examples are be seen.

[Everett]

Interesting, but the discussion is lowering pitch by adding material at the free end adjusting with diamond files to the desired pitch ( lowering reeds tuned to old pitch down to 440.

[wunks]

40 minutes ago, Everett said:

Interesting, but the discussion is lowering pitch by adding material at the free end adjusting with diamond files to the desired pitch ( lowering reeds tuned to old pitch down to 440.

Neither the title of this nor your previous thread imply restricting the discussion to lowering of pitch only but I'll present my query in a new thread.