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Doublereed Archive - Posting 000038.txt from 2003/01
From: herb fawcett <herbgosia@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [DR-L] Bassoon cane
Date: Mon, 6 Jan 2003 00:30:16 -0500
I have not yet found myself so tight on time that I could not allow the cane
to soak in water long enough to sink without heating it. The heat will
surely change resins, starches and other elements of the fibrous junk we
call cane. Could be good, could be bad; I don't know. When I have the luxury
of time, I let it soak for long periods up to several days. I also try to
reduce the number of soakings, so I process all the way to a rounded blank
in one soaking. I have not seen anything negative in the relatively long
soak. I try to remember to change the water daily, and I no longer see any
advantage in the use of distilled water. I wire my blanks after they have
completely dried in string after the rounding. If I did this process
differently, I might be a little more careful with the soak time; I do
believe one can over-soak cane in its preparation as I believe that soaking
cane to saturation is deleterious to performance of a reed. When did
bassoonists start carrying around little bottles of water? I try to remember
to change the water daily, and I no longer see any advantage in the use of
distilled water.
Just my $0.02 from an evidence-based attitude about reeds ( and life ).
Herb
> From: Richard Bush <rbushidioglot@-----.com>
> Reply-To: doublereed-l@-----.edu
> Date: Sun, 5 Jan 2003 19:28:02 -0700
> To: doublereed-l@-----.edu
> Subject: Re: [DR-L] Bassoon cane
>
> I have apprehensions about soaking cane in very hot water. Boiling
> water, I'm speculating, would cook the cane or at least blanch it.
> Wouldn't this effect the sugars or other organic substances in the cane
> and change its chemistry? We cook vegetables to soften them and reduce
> their "woody" texture.
>
> I do soak my cane in heated water, but I keep the temperature between
> 120 F. and 140 F. I use a West Bend slow cooker that has a temperature
> control dial on the hot plate base. It reduces soaking time to
> approximately half. I can process splits that have soaked for four
> hours, instead of eight, and form processed pieces (GSP) after two
> hours of soaking instead of four. The container that sits on the hot
> plate base looks like an oversized bread pan and is, therefore, ideal
> for soaking untrimmed cane splits. The lid is pyrex.
>
> I will look forward to hearing how other bassoon reed makers soak their
> cane.
>
> Richard Bush
> Maker of BasSonic bassoon reeds
> 760 Robins Avenue
> Ogden, UT 84404
> (801) 393-7265
> rbushidioglot@-----.com
>
> On Sunday, January 5, 2003, at 05:30 PM, ContraReed@-----.com wrote:
>
>> In a message dated 1/5/03 6:26:03 PM Eastern Standard Time,
>> wa2msu@-----.com
>> writes:
>>
>> << Is this water just "hot" to begin with, or are you
>> applying more heat the whole time the cane is soaking? >>
>>
>> The water is brought to boiling in a hot pot, and then poured into a
>> thermos
>> with the cane. Both are dedicated to reed making, so I don't have the
>> surprize of reeds tasting like bad coffee or tomato soup.
>> DOUBLEREED-L mailing list
>> DOUBLEREED-L@-----.edu
>> http://lists.washburn.edu/mailman/listinfo/doublereed-l
>>
>>
>
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