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Doublereed Archive - Posting 000086.txt from 2007/10
From: "Edward B. Flowers" <flowerse@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [DR-L] Re: Plastic reeds (oboe)
Date: Thu, 04 Oct 2007 19:24:24 -0400
David,
The shape of the Bransonoort 200 seems to be designed especially to let
you stick you glasses down into the water bath. I did this and all of
the dirt an grime in the crevice around the rims just fizzed away.
Edward B. Flowers (ob, EH)
New York City
David Crispin / Crispin's Creations wrote:
> List,
>
> Ed is among the enlightened regarding his use of an ultrasonic cleaner
> to extend reed life.
>
> Here's one that does a great job and doesn't cost an arm and a leg,
> Unlike a Branson, it comes with a device which will suspend the blades
> of your oboe and English horn reeds into the cleaning solution, while
> keeping the dirty, greasy corks OUT of the cleaning solution. You
> don't want to try to clean your reeds in a greasy cleaning solution,
> or in greasy water.
>
> Ultrasonic Reed Cleaner for Oboe, Bassoon, Sax. SALE !
>
>
> Here's a bassoon reed adapter for that ultrasonic which will suspend
> only the blades of bassoon reeds into the cleaner, so that any
> potentially toxic coating on the string of the reed won't dissolve
> into the cleaning solution and get all over the reed's blades:
>
> Bassoon Reed Adapter for Ultrasonic Cleaner
>
>
> David Crispin
> Crispin's Creations and Accessories
>
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Edward B. Flowers"
> <flowerse@-----.net>
> To: <doublereed@-----.org>
> Sent: Thursday, October 04, 2007 6:59 AM
> Subject: Re: [DR-L] Re: Plastic reeds (oboe)
>
>
>> Herb,
>>
>> Howard Saginur got me started cleaning my reeds with a Bransonoort
>> 200 hypersonic cleaner. It gets the plaque off the inside and outside
>> of the reed and greatly extends reed life.
>>
>> Edward B. Flowers (ob, EH)
>> New York City
>>
>>
>> herb fawcett wrote:
>>> Hysteresis is a problem in plastics. It is controlled in rubber
>>> tires but is
>>> not so easy with a sound generator.
>>> Artemus Edwards (Albuquerque, N.Mex) is an expert on the subject of
>>> plastic
>>> bassoon reeds, and long ago he discovered a manner of adjustment which
>>> required addition of bits of plastic (acetate cement I believe) here
>>> and
>>> there on the blade rather than the traditional approach of removing
>>> material. For some time I have wondered if someone will work out a
>>> carbon fiber
>>> system, but I think it is expensive. The stuff would, at least, not
>>> have the
>>> maddening tendency to return to its original form like all the poly...
>>> materials. Glass-fiber reinforced plastic was an idea, but it becomes
>>> impossibly abrasive as the fibers are exposed. Didn't work. With the
>>> double
>>> reed, there is also the challenge of achieving a non-dampening seal
>>> at the
>>> edges of the blade, etc. I have always felt that to be a
>>> contribution to the
>>> occasional "gem" we create. The accidentally "perfect" relationship
>>> of seal
>>> tension, resiliency of the seal at the edge, and the perfect ratio of
>>> parenchyme and schlerenchyme in the raw donax. If it happens to be
>>> at the
>>> proper pitch... Wow!
>>> This beloved research would benefit from some serious funding - but
>>> from
>>> whom? An impossibly small market. Even the market for cane reeds
>>> that play
>>> very well is small. Each player demands some special character in
>>> his reed.
>>> It goes well beyond soft, medium, and hard.
>>>
>>> Herb
>>>
>>> On 10/2/07 11:40 PM, "philfrei@-----.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>> Has Mr. Legere made progress with plastic oboe reeds?
>>>>
>>>> I remember tracking down his patent, a couple years ago, on the
>>>> processing he does for the plastic to get something approaching arundo
>>>> donax. There was a lot of interesting background information on this
>>>> document, which can be found online at the US gov site for patents.
>>>>
>>>> From what I recall of the background info on the patent, arundo donax
>>>> has a unique amount of resilience for its mass. My "science" may be a
>>>> little off on this. But the main point was that there aren't any other
>>>> known substances that can match its unique combination of properties.
>>>> Plastic (was it polyurethane that he was using?) normally would not
>>>> do,
>>>> but Mr. Legere has come up with a way of creating strands or some such
>>>> structure in the plastic such that it is much closer to a.donax.
>>>> But as
>>>> of a couple years ago, if I remember correctly, clarinet players I
>>>> talked to said the clarinet reeds still didn't quite make it as a
>>>> "concert" substitute -- rather they was being used mostly as a
>>>> reliable
>>>> backup practice reed. If these reeds are now being used in concerts,
>>>> then I am guessing he has continued to make advances with the
>>>> technology.
>>>>
>>>> Other plastic reeds are hopeless, very difficult to get any pitch
>>>> stability at all (on the plastic oboe reeds). The Legere plastic
>>>> process seems to me to be the only one that offers some promise.
>>>>
>>>> I hadn't heard of allergies to arundo donax, but have heard of
>>>> allergies to different types of rubber and plastic. It seems to me
>>>> that
>>>> would be devastating for a reed player. Is there any way to leech out
>>>> the allergens without destroying the reed? Or to coat the reed without
>>>> destroying its playability? (Or convince the immune system it doesn't
>>>> have to be quite so vigilant?)
>>>>
>>>> By the way, what are "plastic cover" clarinet and sax reeds? Do they
>>>> have a thin layer of plastic between the cane and the player? Could
>>>> that process be used on an oboe or bassoon reed? (Could such a process
>>>> extend the life of a good reed?)
>>>>
>>>> - Phil Freihofner
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2007 12:01:01 -0400
>>>> To: <doublereed@-----.org>
>>>> From: "geraldcorey" <geraldcorey@-----.ca>
>>>> Subject: Re: [DR-L] Plastic reeds (oboe)
>>>> Message-ID: <000b01c8050d$6e0c6940$0a02a8c0@homec8g9semhjm>
>>>>
>>>> Dear John (et al) I had a visit not long ago from the
>>>> designer/maker of
>>>> Legere reeds for single reed instruments. These are completely plastic
>>>> reeds
>>>> now used by James Campbell, one of the world's most exceptional
>>>> clarinet
>>>> virtuosi and others in classical orchestra (recently one played
>>>> Bassett
>>>> Horn
>>>> I in Mozart's Requiem with my National Arts Centre Orchestra,
>>>> beautifully
>>>> using a Leger reed for bassett horn). No one would have guessed
>>>> that his
>>>> reed was not made from arundo donax.
>>>> When Mr. Legere visited my home in Ottawa he asked me many questions
>>>> about
>>>> oboe and bassoon reeds, because he has been working on the design of
>>>> oboe
>>>> and bassoon reeds made entirely of plastic. John, if you google Legere
>>>> Reeds, Toronto, Canada, you will find the URL of Legere products and
>>>> will be
>>>> able to ask Mr. Legere in an email if he has made progress on
>>>> finishing
>>>> the
>>>> design of oboe reeds in his plastic material. I would recommend them
>>>> over
>>>> any other type of plastic reed I have tried in the past. Sincerely,
>>>> Gerald
>>>> Corey, Ottawa
>>>>
>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>> From: "David Crispin / Crispin's Creations"
>>>> <crispinscreations@-----.net>
>>>> To: <doublereed@-----.org>
>>>> Sent: Tuesday, October 02, 2007 10:58 AM
>>>> Subject: Re: [DR-L] Plastic reeds (oboe)
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> John,
>>>>>
>>>>> I know of a decent orchestra in which the principal oboist uses
>>>>>
>>>> hand-me-down
>>>>
>>>>> reeds from the second oboist. I'd say they were "has been" reeds, but
>>>>> actually they're more like "has-never-been" reeds.
>>>>>
>>>>> I know this oboist pretty well, and he would never even consider
>>>>>
>>>> using a
>>>>
>>>>> plastic reed.
>>>>>
>>>>> My wheels are turning on this. I'll mess around with some thoughts
>>>>>
>>>> now going
>>>>
>>>>> through my head.
>>>>>
>>>>> -David Crispin
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>>> From: "John Worrall" <john.worrall@-----.ca>
>>>>> To: <doublereed@-----.org>
>>>>> Sent: Tuesday, October 02, 2007 7:22 AM
>>>>> Subject: [DR-L] Plastic reeds (oboe)
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>> I have a colleague who feels he has developed an allergy to reed
>>>>>>
>>>> cane. He
>>>>
>>>>>> is experimenting with fibrecane reeds. Does anyone know of a case
>>>>>>
>>>> where a
>>>>
>>>>>> decent orchestra has managed with a principal oboe using plastic
>>>>>>
>>>> reeds? Or
>>>>
>>>>>> is this the impossible dream?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Thanks
>>>>>>
>>>>>> John
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Email and AIM finally together. You've gotta check out free AOL
>>>> Mail! -
>>>> http://mail.aol.com
>>>>
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>>>> For personal help: email doublereed-owner@-----.org
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>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
>>
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