Klarinet Archive - Posting 000010.txt from 2000/09

From: "Kevin Fay (LCA)" <kevinfay@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] Interesting Reeds
Date: Fri, 1 Sep 2000 12:15:36 -0400

Gary Truesdail related a science project involving a middle school student's
reed . . .

<<<The crud off her reed filled the petri dish over night while all other
petri dishes hadn't shown any growth. The word got out fast, all over the
school and boy, was she embarrassed. She kept her reed and mtpc clean from
then on.>>>

Before we had the invaders, my wife was a middle school band director.
Being the compliant fiancé, I took her up on her request to coach some of
her less proficient students. This opened my eyes a bit; to that point, I
had only taught private lessons to kids who generally wanted to play better
-- some of these kids were in band only 'cuz momma made them.

There was a wee lass named Nicole who had grave difficulty getting a note
out of the horn. On inspection, her reed looked like a comb. A green one.
"Wow!" she exclaimed, "you mean they come off?"

I gave her a fresh one, and sent her down the hall to wash her mouthpiece.
When I showed the offending bit to my wife, she posted it -- glued it to a
piece of paper on the bulletin board, with the caption "would you put THIS
in your mouth?"

I am now a BIG fan of plastic reeds for beginners; lacking that, Rico
Plasticovers. Sure, they don't sound all that great -- but neither does a
V-12 after about eight minutes at the hands of a typical 11-year old.

Maybe I'm just a hypochondriac. Maybe Seattle is the mold capital of the
world. Maybe I just get nauseous at the thought of reeds that don't get a
good dose of soap or hydrogen peroxide once in a while.

How many folks would eat a cup of ice cream with the same little wooden
spoon that they had used the day before . . . still gummy? Ick.

kjf

---------------------------------------------------------------------
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