Klarinet Archive - Posting 000357.txt from 1996/10

From: David Blumberg <reedman@-----.COM>
Subj: Re: Champion Reeds from the Vandoren Factory; California Cane?
Date: Mon, 14 Oct 1996 08:32:14 -0400

Yes, I would, but Rico, Lavoz, Hemke, has already beat me to it.
David C. Blumberg

----------
From: Klarinet - Clarinettist's Network on behalf of David Hughes
Sent: Sunday, October 13, 1996 11:13 PM
Subject: Champion Reeds from the Vandoren Factory; California Cane?

Starr wrote:

>The longest that I've ever kept a reed going for was 5 years of
>intermittent playing. I bought it at the Vandoren factory in Paris,
>where you can actually play the reeds before buying them. During
>this particular visit to the factory, I tried 70 reeds, all #4 regulars,
>and chose to buy only 7. These 7 reeds were outstanding! But, 7
>out of 70 are not such good odds. I think that is the main reason
>that people are so fed up with Vandoren reeds.

I had a very similar experience. I spent at least two hours trying clarinet
reeds (all #5) at the Vandoren factory in Paris in 1973 (sharing the room
with a bevvy of Belgian alto sax players, who complained that the reeds were
"trop fortes", and a single French sax player, who complained that the reeds
were "trop faibles": the single French player easily drowned out the 4
Belgian players). I picked out 32 reeds out of several hundred, (BTW, I
have heard that it is no longer permitted to sample reeds: small wonder!).

One of the 32 (which I marked "b" on the back), lasted at least 5 years. I
didn't use it constantly, but whenever I needed a responsive, "big" reed,
I'd pull out "b". I still have it and believe I could still play it.

When I got my first Reedgard at Ponte's in NYC in 1963, it came with a
little brochure containing the claim that putting your reeds in the Reedgard
would (presumably via the reforming pressure of the Reedgard) alter or
correct the structure of the cane to improve the reed (sort of reed
orthodontia!). I asked my teacher if this could be true, and he scoffed at
the notion, noting that "God made that cane!"

I think he had a good point: Like any natural material (such as wood and
grapes), cane varies greatly, depending on the conditions where and when it
is grown. Although it's risky to generalize, I think that the fundamental
reason some reeds work and others don't is variation in the quality of the
cane. If you're very lucky and try enough reeds (and if you're heart is
free and pure), you'll find a reed with perfect cane, and that reed will be
a champ.

Maybe reed makers should label the variety of cane, location grown, and
vintage, like wine makers. Not to start a string on wine, but it has
occurred to me that California, with its generally consistent sun and rain
and long growing season, might be a great place to grow reed cane, just as
it is to grow grapes. Any amateur vintners out there who'd like to
experiment??

   
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