Klarinet Archive - Posting 000258.txt from 1994/05

From: Tom Ascher <U15310@-----.EDU>
Subj: reeds
Date: Mon, 16 May 1994 11:08:34 -0400

I have an idea for both a "thought" experiment, and possibly one that
could actually be performed. What if there was some means by
which we could play reeds without looking at them? What if the only
way we had for judging a reed was by how it plays, not by how it looks?
Procedure: take a new box of reeds, open
it and visually inspect all of the reeds and make a determination based
on appearance as to how the reeds were likely to play. Then, play all
of the same reeds over a period of time WITHOUT looking to see which
reed is which. I don't know how to do this latter part. Is it possible
to mount a reed to the mouthpiece without looking? Or have a friend do
it?! Has anyone done such an experiment? I wonder how many reeds are
discarded based on visual inspection, rather than how they actually play?!

My hunch is that many reeds are discarded as faulty based on visual
inspection, whereas they are actually quite playable.