Klarinet Archive - Posting 000231.txt from 1996/10

From: Neil Leupold <nleupold@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: bass doubling
Date: Wed, 9 Oct 1996 13:00:01 -0400

On Wed, 9 Oct 1996, Roger Shilcock wrote:

> Comment: Having water on the *inside* of a reed is not a good idea! How
> does the "dipper" stop this happening?
> The answer is he /she can't - so "inhaling" on the mouthpiece may not be
> sufficient.

By "inside" of the reed, do you mean inside the actual cane fibers? Or
just on the flat backside of the reed which faces the interior of the
mouthpiece? I should think a hearty inhale/suck would draw enough water
off the backside of the reed to prevent it from becoming saturated, as
long as this was done immediately following a dipping of the mouthpiece
in water. If, by "inside" the the reed you mean inside the fibers, that
is tantamount to being waterlogged, over-saturated, in which case there
is little hope of reviving the reed in that session. That would happen
if the player simply dipped the mouthpiece/reed in water, but made no
effort to draw off the excess moisture.

I still like the sponge-in-the-mouthpiece-cap idea best so far, as long
as the sponge isn't so wet as to saturate the reed. All we're looking
for here is mild moisture, no real contact with water.

Neil