Klarinet Archive - Posting 000045.txt from 2004/05

From: "Lelia Loban" <lelialoban@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] old cane
Date: Mon, 3 May 2004 09:39:16 -0400


David Niethamer wrote,
> This is the second time in the last few days that I've seen a post
> praising the superiority of "old cane". I wonder if any other players
> have the same experience as I do with very "well aged" cane? In my
> experience, it gets too dried out and then is more subject to the
> vagaries of the wetting/drying process (warping). This causes reeds (and
> tube cane from which I make reeds) to suffer in the longevity department,
> and also seems to result in less than the optimum sound that I'd like to
> hear from these reeds.

Somebody-or-other claims in his book on the clarinet that slightly green
cane plays best. (Oops, Dan Leeson is going to get me, for not providing
the source. Sorry, but I just don't remember.) I've acquired old reeds as
"new old stock" in music stores and also found a lot of old reeds in
vintage clarinet cases. Some of the "new old stock," bought in clean
condition from stores or from individuals who had stored unopened boxes
indoors, played well at first.

My experience has been similar to David Niethamer's: for me, these reeds
wear out quickly. I still hoard a few extremely well-aged bass saxophone
reeds from a nearly-full box of Ricos (the old plain brown cardboard box)
that had been left behind for years in a local store. Those are by far the
best reeds I've found for this 1926 sax, and the only reeds that really fit
the old mouthpiece. They play straight out of the box. All of my bass sax
reeds warp at the tips, but this wavy warping doesn't seem to affect
functionality. The tip flattens as soon as I wet the reed and start using
it. However, those old Ricos are harder to flatten, and they also start
warping down the center pretty fast. Soon after that concave shape starts
to show up, they disintegrate all of a sudden, developing multiple cracks
and tip-chips within one practice session. I think they last about half as
long as new reeds. They're great while they last, though.

I've had similar, though less extreme, results with other new old stock. I
have some old Vandoren "purple plastic box" reeds for alto clarinet that
play well. They last longer than those bass sax Ricos, but when they start
to go, they go fast. For me, an amateur playing at home, the lack of
longevity doesn't matter, since I bought these reeds at a big discount,
but, if I played in public, I'd be a little bit nervous about relying on a
very old reed for a concert. Not wonderful if it pooped out in
mid-concerto.

The old clarinet reeds I've found in outdoor flea market and yard sale
cases have ranged from mediocre to unplayable. When I've found a used
instrument case clean enough to make me willing to experiment with the
new-looking old reeds, the sterilizing methods I used to make sure they
wouldn't give me galloping lip rot probably damaged the cane. Even the
better cases usually smelled suspect enough to deter me from putting the
reeds in my mouth without washing and soaking them in hot water with
detergent, and then following up with a long soak in Sterisol.

Cleaning up the reeds isn't worth the trouble if it's obvious that lower
life forms have been using the case as a flophouse and snack bar, though I
sometimes collect a new-looking old reed that I wouldn't try to play, if
it's an interesting, obsolete brand. I don't try out reeds that seem to
have been used. Of course I'd never keep a reed, even if I thought it was
unused, if it came from a putrid, disgusting case: the kind where the first
thing I do is rip out the tattered, moldy, reeking fabric and throw it in
the *outdoor* garbage can before I bring the case in the house. Eeeeeew.

Lelia Loban
E-mail: lelialoban@-----.net
Web site (original music scores as audio or print-out):
http://members.sibeliusmusic.com/LeliaLoban

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