 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Morrigan
Date: 2003-06-09 10:12
I have 20 Gonzalez reeds on my glass plate I've been soaking and drying for almost a week now...
The next step is playing them all in. However, I've gotta get them into college somehow for tomorrow, what do I carry them all in?! Any ideas on anything I could find around the house?!
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Author: msroboto
Date: 2003-06-09 13:02
empty plastic reed holders like the ones reeds come in would be the first choice.
other than that as i look around my room maybe if you take out all the inserts from a cd case that will hold them. you might want to put a little lightweight tape across the bottom of the reeds to hold them in one place.
i'm sure others will have some other suggestions.
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Author: dfh
Date: 2003-06-10 02:55
I've moved reeds from place to place loose in a plastic or hard cardboard box - like the boxes Vandoreens come in. (tin would work too) and had no damage to the tips. I'll store old reeds like this for years. As long as they don't get shaken like they're a percussion instrument, I think they're pretty indestructable.
Getting much smaller glass, or plexiglass plates and straping them with rubber bands is my method. (And really cheap if you can find a way to get someone to cut a $3.00 piece of plexiglass into 80 little pieces for you). Then I put all those little "reed gurneys" into a small fishing tackle box, which I also sometimes just toss reeds into w/o damage.
Good luck!
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Author: cyso_clarinetist
Date: 2003-06-10 23:41
okay just a few facts
1. Once you start breaking in reeds, NEVER put them back in those little plastic cases. Those are not designed for that. Their only purpose to ensure that you get your reeds damage free. If you continue to put your reeds in there, they will warp. I promise you.
2. I think most of us at one point or anything have had or wanted a glass plate case for our reeds. It turns out these solid flat surfaces actually cause the reeds to warp as well. You need to store your reeds on something with grooves. Like a vandoren case or another that has grooves.
3. I trust you put them in a bag or something to seal the reeds. They last longer. If you leave them out in the open air they decay quicker with is a waste for you.
In question of transporting your reeds. I would say that with what you have. Assuming the glass plate isn't obscenely massive, just take rubber bands, put it in a zip lock bag. This should be okay in getting them there.
Good luck
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Author: Marge
Date: 2003-06-11 05:11
I suppose you don't have glass microscope slides lying around the house, but they work well with one reed per slide, held in place with a rubberband/elastic. (The glass edges can be sharp, though, so watch it, and the occasional worn rubberband has also been a victim of a sharp edge.)
I then found spare small boxes I'd saved (like display/gift boxes for small pieces of jewelry) a little longer than the slides and tall enough (but not too tall) to stand the slides inside more or less on the long edges (but a bit slanted). With a bit of cushioning tissue below the array and another above, and a rubberband around the box to be sure the lid stays on, I've not had any damage. My best spare-closet find was a small cloth-covered, molded-metal box with a hinged lid that snaps shut and stays shut on its own.
What I guess are standard-size slides (at least in the US) are just right for this purpose. I started out by asking a biology prof at our local college whether I could buy 10 or so slides from the lab. No problem, said he, but when I next checked my mailbox, I discovered he had presented me with a whole box (and then refused payment). Since the box says it contains a half-gross, I guess I now have a lifetime supply of 72 slides, or enough to hand them around the whole clarinet section of our community band.
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Author: bobmester
Date: 2003-06-11 13:00
Cyso_clarinetist said -
"It turns out these solid flat surfaces actually cause the reeds to warp as well. You need to store your reeds on something with grooves."
Is this true? It contradicts a lot of what has been written previously.
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Author: Liquorice
Date: 2003-06-11 15:23
cyso_clarinetist wrote: "Once you start breaking in reeds, NEVER put them back in those little plastic cases. Those are not designed for that. Their only purpose to ensure that you get your reeds damage free. If you continue to put your reeds in there, they will warp. I promise you."
I've been playing professionally for 12 years. In all that time, I have never stored my reeds in anything other than the plastic covers that Vandoren supply their reeds in. I have never had any problem with warping. I promise you.
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Author: John Morton
Date: 2003-06-11 16:07
I have a little box like Marge uses for her microscope slides, but I just cut a single piece of window glass to the size of the box. Then I slipped those little Vandoren plastic covers over one edge of the glass, and stuck them on with duct tape on the underside. (I actually cut sections out of the covers, because I didn't want the notched area.)
Now I can slip the reeds in quickly with no risk of tweaking the tip, and they are held in the same way as in a Vandoren reed case, i.e. pressed against the glass at a point some distance back from the tip. I taped some of those little silica gel packets from pill bottles ("do not eat") inside the lid of the box.
Regarding the grooves in the Vandoren cases: I do think that is a better surface - they allow air circulation under the reed for more uniform drying. I will start looking for some corrugated plastic that I can substitute for my glass.
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Author: vin
Date: 2003-06-12 02:53
cysoclarinetist- I know two fine clarinetists who work for Vandoren. They deal with Vandoren products every day. They store some reeds in their case, some in the plastic things. It works for them and they know all there is to know about vandoren. The plastic might not work for everyone, of course, but I don't think one can say definatively this reed case is better than this for everyone. I think the one thing all clarinetists agree on with regards to reeds is that the only thing that definatively doesn't work is breaking them!
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Author: Burt
Date: 2003-06-12 17:48
If you store reeds in a nearly watertight container such as a ziploc bag, be sure they are absolutely dry first. I lost several good reeds due to mold. Hydrogen peroxide saved a small number of them.
I, also, store reeds in the cases they are sold in. In particularly, the Mitchell Lurie cases are convenient, although I don't use Lurie reeds anymore.
A box from throat lozenges makes a great container for reeds either in the Lurie cases or in LaVoz 2-reed holders. If also holds a piece of glass and a razor blade. (True also for alto sax reeds.)
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