Klarinet Archive - Posting 000055.txt from 1999/10

From: LeliaLoban@-----.com
Subj: [kl] Clarinet Reed shelf life, storage
Date: Sat, 2 Oct 1999 20:54:40 -0400

Dave Florence asked,
> Do unopened boxes of reeds stored in plastic holders (e.g., VanDoren V12's)
improve with age, or is there a point within a few years when they would
deteriorate?>

Robert Willaman said (in _The Clarinet and Clarinet Playing_, Carl Fischer
Inc., 1949, revised 1954), "Seasoning improves the quality and lengthens the
useful life of reeds. Some known to be twenty years old are much better than
new ones.... Left in the open air, reeds dry out too fast or too completely.
They become brown and brittle and the tone is harsh and inflexible. If the
air is too moist and cool they can spoil and become covered by a fine mold.
For best results unopened boxes of reeds for seasoning should be wrapped in
corrugated cardboard and several thicknesses of strong paper so there can be
no changes in the moisture content of the air wrapped with it.... In two or
three years cane will improve greatly.... Some believe that after six or
seven years deterioration begins." (P. 51-52.) He goes on to speculate that
he thinks reeds could last 30 years without deterioration. He gives a lot of
other detailed advice in an entire chapter on reeds.

However, I've read at least one other source -- unfortunately I can't locate
it -- that stated unequivocally that fresh reeds play better than old ones.
I have a problem with the vagueness of all such advice. Nobody can define
optimum storage conditions. In Willaman above, for instance, what does "too
moist and cool" mean? How moist? How cool? How dry is too dry?

Moisture from the air penetrates paper and cardboard. In an environment damp
enough to cause mold or mildew *outside* such a package, reeds will not
survive in cardboard. I've bought several old saxes and clarinets that came
with cardboard packages of reeds ruined with mold or mildew, in cases
similarly afflicted. If the general environment is not good, the reeds will
not stay good. Similarly, in a desert environment, paper will wick the
moisture from the contents of a package to the outside, where the moisture
evaporates, as anyone who has lived and stored food in arid areas of
California, as I have, can attest.

I've had three experiences with old reeds that had no obvious damage. When I
first started playing clarinet again after a hiatus, I found some "plain old
Ricos" in my case. They were about 25 years old, unused, in unsealed,
partially-emptied cardboard boxes. Ricos in the mid-1960s came layered
loosely in the box between thick sheets of paper padding. I assume some air
could circulate in those containers, though they stayed in a closed case
stored indoors (the case, wooden clarinet, corks and even pads had remained
in excellent shape, although the old pads packed down quickly and soon needed
replacement). The reeds had turned deep golden. About half (the usual
number) of the old Ricos played adequately (I was too out of practice to be
picky), but they began chipping at the tips within only a few hours of
playing. I don't think I got more than 10 hours out of any of them.
(Normally I get 30-40 hours out of a good or average reed.) However, I
haven't bought any "plain old Ricos" for Bb clarinet subsequently, so I can't
compare them with new ones.

When I first started needing bass sax reeds, a local music store gave me a
partially-used box of "plain old Ricos" that had sat around in the unsealed
cardboard box, in the store display case, for probably about 20-25 years.
These reeds had darkened to a dull brown color. They played well enough for
me to use them up. (Bass sax reeds seem less sensitive than clarinet reeds.
I almost never find a bass sax reed too lousy to use and in fact the best
fitting ones for my 70-year-old mouthpiece turn out to be "plain old Ricos".)
However, after only a few hours of looking and sounding fine, each of the
"vintage" reeds in turn suddenly disintegrated, with many tip chips or
several lengthwise splits appearing all at once. Subsequently, new Rico bass
sax reeds last much longer, although they do tend to fail abruptly, rather
than slowly deteriorating the way my clarinet reeds usually do.

Another store manager recently got rid of some his opened old stock "purple
plastic box" Vandorens for Eb alto clarinet by offering them to me at half
price. He didn't know how old they are, but they have bar codes. Each reed
comes in an individual plastic sleeve. The outer boxes were unsealed, but
probably a lot closer to airtight than paper boxes would have been. Those
reeds stayed a golden color, slightly darker than new reeds. They're good
quality, less variable in strength than modern Vandorens. They last a normal
amount of time and give a mellow, normal alto clarinet tone. I'm sorry I
can't get any more of these.

Two packages of "Vibrator" alto sax reeds came in the case with a clarinet
from a flea market. These are the obsolete reeds with the parallel grooves
cut down the bark. The packages are cardboard sheets with a stiff plastic
laminate over them, but pre-date bar codes. I think they probably date from
about 1960. The cardboard was in like-new condition, with the color still
bright red, so these packages (probably stuffed into the clarinet case
recently, by the flea market dealer -- the packages of reeds lay flat on top
of the clarinet) had not been exposed to sunlight or prolonged damp. One
package was intact. I kept it as a holy relic. (Don't ask me why. Packrats
can't explain these things.) The other package had been partially used by
peeling cardboard off from one end, so that the remaining reeds appeared to
have been kept sealed under intact plastic. The reeds had darkened to dull
tan. I was curious about Vibrators, having found individual used ones on old
mouthpieces. (I can't bring myself to wash and try out somebody's grubby
used reed. It goes straight in the garbage. Ick.) I broke in some of these
"new old stock" Vibrators and was most disappointed. They gave a harsh,
screeching tone, with lots of squeak trouble, on every sax mouthpiece I
tried. They're too brittle and fragile to use anyway.

Lelia

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