Klarinet Archive - Posting 000568.txt from 1998/03

From: George Kidder <gkidder@-----.edu>
Subj: Reed thickness
Date: Mon, 9 Mar 1998 12:32:14 -0500

Relative to discussions of reeds (a major problem for players at all
levels); let me try this idea on for size, as I don't remember seeing any
discussion of it. I wish I could draw a diagram, but I will just have to
wave my arms.

A piece of reed cane is a tube, with the "bark" on the outside and air in
the middle. Between these is the "reed" material which is shaped into the
vibrating part of the reed. If you examine reed cane microscopically, you
find that the "vessel elements" of which the cane is made are most closely
packed toward the outside of the tube, becoming less dense and interspersed
with other (parenchyma) cells toward the center. When a reed is made, the
"bark" forms the curved shinny part of the read, while the "business end" of
the reed (the vibrating tip) is cut from a more-central part of the cane.

It follows, then, that from a given piece of cane, a clarinet reed made from
a thick blank will have as its vibrating tip a less-dense segment of cane
than a thin or standard blank reed. This should be true for all reeds made
of cane of the same diameter. When I examine my stock of regular and
thick-blank reeds, I do not see any difference in curvature of the bark, so
I infer that the cane from which they were cut was the same diameter for both.

Now one would think that a denser reed material would be better. I tried
this idea out on a bassoonist friend who makes his own reeds, and his
off-hand comment was "Yes, thicker reeds are less dense", but I have not yet
pinned him down on whether this is good or bad for him.

In summary, then: by this reasoning, thick-blank reeds should have a
less-dense vibrating tip than thin-blank reeds made from the same piece of
cane.

My questions to the list are: 1) Does this reasoning seem sound? 2) Do
players notice differences in density (not stiffness, which depends on
thickness as well) between thick and thin blank reeds? 3) Do these
differences in density have any effect on playing or keeping properties.

Carrying this one step further, the arrangement of material in the cane
means that the edges of the reed will be more dense than the center or
heart. This seems backwards from what we might desire, and leads to the
further question: 4) Has anyone ever tried making reeds "upside down",
flattening off the bark side and thus making the vibrating portion closer to
the bark and therefore more dense? This should also produce a reed in
which the heart is made from the most dense material.

Sure wish I could draw a diagram!

George W. Kidder III
Professor of Biology
Illinois State University
Normal, IL 61761-4120
(309)438-3085 gkidder@-----.edu