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Doublereed Archive - Posting 000086.txt from 2004/07

From: Mark Charette <charette@-----.org>
Subj: Re: [DR-L] Aging reeds -> softer? (was: Great Reeds)
Date: Thu, 29 Jul 2004 10:02:59 -0400

On Thu, 29 Jul 2004, Rhondda May wrote:

> Hi Angela,
>
> Reeds get softer because your saliva breaks down the fibers.

Actually not; the enzymes in saliva can't break down the lignin. There are
a number of other factors that affect the stiffness of the reed - for
instance, if there is significant mineralization from your saliva clogging
the tubules it'll go soft, since it's the presence of water within the
tubule cylinder that gives the reed its stiffness (seems counterintuitive
that a wet reed is stiffer than a dry one, but that's the way it is ...).

Don Casadonte write a very interesting thesis for his dissertation; it is
used as a reference extensively for the article on bassoon cane at
http://koppreeds.com/virtues.html

An electron microscope picture of arundo donax showing the helical layout
of the fibers is at http://www.woodwind.org/Images/Helical_Thickening.jpg

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