Klarinet Archive - Posting 000291.txt from 2003/05

From: "Lelia Loban" <lelialoban@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] Reed Cases
Date: Thu, 15 May 2003 19:30:35 -0400

LCdr Randel Livingood wrote,
>During the discussion of a recent reeds thread
>someone mentioned reed cases. I am interested
>in getting a case and wondered if there any that
>stand above the others.

Where I live, the air's sticky enough to chew in the summer and reed
holders designed to keep the reeds moist lead to developments with a high
barf-factor, as in Oliver's pungently-described experience. I prefer one
of the simplest, cheapest reed holders, the black plastic Vito case that
holds four reeds. It covers the thin end of the reed and holds it down
enough to protect it, while letting plenty of air circulate. It also has a
nice, flat space I can use for a temporary stick-on label under each reed,
where I rate the reed for various purposes. For bigger saxophone reeds, I
also use similar plastic La Voz holders made in single and double sizes.
Nobody seems to make a simple reed case that my bass sax reeds will fit
into, so I secure them on a piece of glass with ponytail holders.

After using a reed, I rinse it with water and blot off as much water as I
can with a towel before putting the reed in the case. I store reed cases
where air can circulate around them, although I can't leave them out in the
open where Ms. Shadow Cat might get her claws on them. (One morning before
I learned this lesson, loud purring woke me up in time to see her happily
mincing across the bed toward me with her tail waving aloft like a
triumphant flag. She'd brought me her latest prey as crunchy breakfast in
bed: a well-gnawed Mitchell Lurie Premium that turned out to be, naturally,
my favorite reed. Cue Monty Python: This reed was dead. It was not just
mostly dead; it was really, most sincerely dead. It was an ex-reed. It
had squeaked its last. It had flown off to the Great Orchestra in the Sky.

Rumor has it that Shadow Cat hacked my new web site, btw, but I find it
hard to believe she'd bother, since it's an exceedingly lame web site and
still under construction anyway.

Lelia Loban
lelialoban@-----.net
http://members.sibeliusmusic.com/LeliaLoban

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