The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Tom Puwalski
Date: 2009-12-27 04:25
I was just reading through the last issue of The Clarinet Mag and I came across the the Forestone ad. And it States: " Forestone is the first composite reed that actually contains Bamboo for an authentic sound , response , look and feel.
Is that a typo or are they seriously using bamboo. Bamboo doesn't make a good reed even if you don't mix it, I've tried! Back in the day when I used to do that I had some bamboo I made, cured blanks then made reeds out of a few and they were horrible, but every one that I had asked before "trying it" had know idea what the answer would be.
Tom Puwalski, former clarinet soloist and principal clarinetist with the U.S. Army Field Band, author of The Clarinetist's Guide to Klezmer, More Klezmer Gig tunes and Clarinet Basic Training.
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Author: skygardener
Date: 2009-12-27 04:59
When I met the president of Forestone last year, he said that it was bamboo dust mixed with some kind of plastic.
As far as real bamboo reeds, I also tried it a couple times. The small bamboo, about 3-4cm OD, is far too hard, but some of the bigger bamboos, about 7+cm OD, gave better results. I only bothered to try a couple times.
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Author: skygardener
Date: 2009-12-27 13:56
"Pure Bamboo would make a reed that's a 7-9 in strength.
Not playable even for the most "robust" of players.
Rico tried it as an experiment and that's what they got."
I didn't have that problem with the larger bamboo. It was a little harder, but not much.
Post Edited (2009-12-27 13:58)
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Author: BartHx
Date: 2009-12-27 17:04
Maybe my fuzzy head is getting in the way of my understanding this thread. Are you saying that reeds are not made from bamboo? If not, what is it that they use?
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