Klarinet Archive - Posting 000525.txt from 1999/02

From: Roger Garrett <rgarrett@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] Reed Aging
Date: Sun, 14 Feb 1999 14:53:47 -0500

On Sun, 14 Feb 1999, Richard Bush wrote:
> Professor Garrett really didn't answer the question of whether reeds
> improve with additional aging. There are many opinions on this. Some
> people recommend that after trying and rejecting a reed, it should be
> stored away and maybe tried again a year or two down the road. As
> mentioned in another post, a reed that might not play during a
> particular season might work better at another time of year.

Darn - I was hoping to sidestep the issue entirely. The reason I didn't
really answer is that I have no pure factual data from which to post an
authoritative response (whoa - that was even a bit too wordy for me).
But, my personal experience has been that aging the reed (letting it sit
in a cool, dry location for a period of several months to sevaral years)
simply dries the reeds out to the point where they don't seem to respond
well at all. Of course - the variable of how to age, when, and where are
endless - and my experiences were simply trying reeds that were given to
me from friends in the business of sales who had them sitting around for a
very long time. Those that I have tried:

Buffet Reeds (yup - they were made) - sealed in the box for 6 years. 200
of them.

Vandoren reeds from the 1950's (my dad had about 7 unopened boxes - all
sealed with the cool gold tag they had back then - and those boxes were
really elegant.

Mitchell Lurie

Olivieri - I still have some ten year old boxes - anyone want to buy them
cheap? They are unopened!
Roger Garrett
Professor of Clarinet
Director - Concert Band, Symphonic Winds & Titan Band
Advisor - Recording Studio
Illinois Wesleyan University

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unsubscribe from Klarinet, e-mail: klarinet-unsubscribe@-----.org
Subscribe to the Digest: klarinet-digest-subscribe@-----.org
Additional commands: klarinet-help@-----.org
Other problems: klarinet-owner@-----.org