Klarinet Archive - Posting 000933.txt from 1997/08

From: YeomanHuff@-----.com
Subj: Re: reeds (And my management thereof)
Date: Fri, 22 Aug 1997 12:04:24 -0400

In a message dated 97-08-21 21:29:27 EDT, cdhume@-----.Net writes:

<< How can I prolong their usefulness? >>

One of the more important parts of breaking in new reeds is to only play on
new reeds for no more than two to three minutes a day ( ! ), every other day,
for the first week of their lives in your care. Be strict about the time.
After that I only play on a broken-in reed for about forty minutes a day.
(During concerts, I will switch reeds during intermission).

How do I play for three to six hours a day? I have lots of reeds! I keep
two full 12-reed boxes going all the time. One box houses only broken-in,
ready-for-performance reeds, and the other has my reeds being broken in and a
few disgusto, dying, no-longer-good-for-concerts reeds that I blow to death
every day until no amout of scraping, sanding, coaxing, or talking-dirty-to
will make them work.

Another thing I like to do is to buy my reeds two years in advance. You have
to be confident that you will be using the same style and number reed two
years from now, and you have to initially shell out a bunch of money, but it
helps a lot. I can also take advange of good sales this way. Right now I'm
playing on '94 Vandorens. (Not a very good year, but remember '92? Now THAT
was a good year for Vandorens! :) This way they age a bit more in my
cabinet, and it does stabolize them a lot. I hate playing on un-aged reeds:
There is most definitely a difference. They feel like sponges and last
about as long.

I also rub my reeds to close off the pores, but I've never figured out if
this actually does prolong their life, or if it is merely psychological...
But it doesn't hurt them, and it's a good conversation starter when playing
with strangers who don't know what the heck you're doing rubbing your reed on
a wood block...

   
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