Klarinet Archive - Posting 001082.txt from 1997/09

From: "Edwin V. Lacy" <el2@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: "healthy instruments" ;-)
Date: Tue, 23 Sep 1997 23:45:01 -0400

On Tue, 23 Sep 1997, David B. Niethamer wrote:

> on 9/22/97 9:17 PM, Stan Elias wrote:
>
> >If searching for the perfect reed induces nervous exhaustion among
> >clarinetists, then double reed players must be on a slippery slope that
> >ends in a rubber room ;-) !
>
> Well, think about the double reed players you know...! ;-)
>
> Ed, I know the Evansville Assylum trusts you implicitly and allows you to
> communicate with the outside world! So, present company excepted.

I admit to being somewhat amused when clarinet and saxophone players
complain about their reeds. I play both of those instruments but am
primarily a bassoonist and also play the oboe and make reeds for it. To
be able to buy as many reeds as you want, which are nearly ready-to-play,
at a cost of only a couple of dollars each or less, is a nearly
incomprehensible luxury to double reed players. If my bassoon reeds die,
it takes at least two weeks to make a new batch of four to six, and then
not all of them are usable. Oboe reeds can be made fairly quickly, but
they are so delicate and require such precision that the succuss rate in
making them is fairly low.

And, David, I see that you know something about my adopted hometown.
Actually, my studio is only about 6 blocks from the Evansville State
Hospital, so it is comforting to know that they are there in case I get
too mentally unstable as a result of my experiences with many types of
reeds. Thus far, I haven't made it to the "rubber room," but last
Saturday night I did play a concert on what seemed like a rubber bassoon
reed! ;-)

Ed Lacy
el2@-----.edu