Klarinet Archive - Posting 000179.txt from 2004/06

From: "Karl Krelove" <karlkrelove@-----.net>
Subj: RE: [kl] Reeds
Date: Sun, 13 Jun 2004 22:34:23 -0400

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bill Hausmann [mailto:bhausmann1@-----.net]
>
> That's just it. People HAVE made that calculation, and found that it is
> worth the money, or the lack of aggravation, to buy pre-made reeds. That
> is why virtually everybody uses them nowadays.
>
>
> >This approach is not without precedent. Serious double-reed players have
> >been making their own for centuries.
>
> Of course, double reed players live in a parallel universe to our
> own. :-)
>
> Bill Hausmann
>
And, anyway, the going price of commercial oboe and bassoon reeds is far
higher than that of even the premium clarinet reeds. If bassoonists and
oboists could get something playable for $2.00 per reed or less (V12
clarinet reeds now go for around $19 per box of 10 reeds here in the US), I
wonder how many of them would spend the time or the money on equipment
either.

We often forget how relatively well-off we are as clarinetists. Who else
among our woodwind or string playing colleagues could buy top-of-the-line
instruments for what we pay - even when we have to pay a local tech to
finish the manufacturer's job. My wife paid over $5,000 for a new viola
(from the maker) several years ago - a decent instrument, but by no means a
collector's item. The same luthier is now getting nearly twice as much for
his new instruments. We'd have to really work at spending $9,000 even on a
big clarinet, much less a Bb or A soprano. Likewise, I'm not sure I'd know
where to shop for a $12-15 clarinet reed (leaving synthetic reeds out of the
discussion).

Karl Krelove

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