Klarinet Archive - Posting 000481.txt from 1998/05

From: Roger Garrett <rgarrett@-----.edu>
Subj: [kl] Re: Reed holders
Date: Sun, 10 May 1998 15:12:19 -0400

One of the later posts mentioned that storing reeds in the container in
which they come is the way that particular person stores his
reeds.......that he can't afford to purchase a reed case for each
instrument.......warped reeds notwithstanding......or something to that
effect.....I didn't save the post.

For those people who make reeds or have made reeds in the past - from
tubes or blanks - we recognize the value of the preparation of the reed
blank as being paramount to avoiding reed warpage. It doesn't always
work, but, for the most part - it does. For commercial reeds, many people
have posted here that they follow a routine for preparing the reeds via
sanding over one, two or more days to avoid warping.........and the
results are usually successful.

It makes sense to store reeds in a way in which they will warp the
least....that is....if you believe that warping a) occurs and b) is bad
for the reed if it does occur.

There is very little investment in a reed guard.....a little contraption
that holds four reeds and presses the tip flat. Some reed guards are
approximately $4 each, and others are $10 each .....Vandoren sells some
that have charcoal filters, and they sell some that just hold the reed
without any extra gadgets or filters. Some people like to store these
reed guards in a plastic bag with a slightly damp sponge to help keep a
constant humidity.

For those people who want to invest more in their reeds - not only to
organize a complete box of ten reeds - but to keep them on glass, pressed
flat and drying consistantly.....there are reed wallets - a wide variety
of them at varying costs. Selmer makes several sizes for between $20 and
$50. Harrison reed cases are about the same cost.....made out of wood -
the latches are worse, but they look nice. The design works fine.

It seems that if there is a lot of money spent on reeds, there should be a
good effort to discover if storing reeds in specific ways helps to
a) prevent warpage; b) extend the life of the reed; c) contribute to the
proper break-in of a reed. At the very least, it would make sense for
someone who spends more than $12 or so on a box of reeds to invest a
little bit of that money in storing reeds in the best possible way. Of
course, if the best way to do that is to store them in the little box they
come in - or the plastic vandoren reed sleeves - great! However, one does
not need to do a study to find that most professional clarinetists use
some sort of reed guard or reed wallet to store their reeds. The same can
be said for university professors.

By the way, there was a questionaire that went out to all university
professors a couple of years back....I participated in the study....it was
a doctoral thesis that asked questions that included storing of reeds. I
don't remember the person who wrote it, and I don't know if I still have
it, but if memory serves me well, the figure was something like 86% of all
participants in the survey (university teachers, professional orchestral
players, and some selected private teachers) used a reed wallet or reed
guard of some kind......either hand made or commercially purchased.

There was also another survey in 1972 that asked the same
question........with similar results. I loaned that thesis to a
student......I wonder if I still have it?

At any rate........my words, "most people" refers to professional
performers and teachers.....not to public school students or some college
students.

Roger Garrett
IWU

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