 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: Dr. Jacob Mathias
Date: 2002-06-18 04:08
Does the heat affect reeds greatly in such climates? I live in the east coast of Canada and all we get is rain and snow and sometimes a little sunlight.... Do Texan players have any special reed preparation problems that make their life as much of a hell as mine when it comes to reeds? I use 3 Vandoren on a Eaton mouthpiece with Boosey and Hawkes 1010s and find the moisture levels here cause reeds to swell and change dreadfully. I have never thought, but, maybe there are advantages to a dry heat for clarinet players.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: jbutler
Date: 2002-06-18 12:32
I live in the coastal area of Texas where the climate is more subtropical. We have high humidity almost all year. We consider it to be a low humidity day if it drops below 50 per cent. Clarinets do not require damp its, for sure! However, when going to west Texas where the air is drier I notice my reeds get a little stronger. I usually have to either adjust them or play a reed about a half strength softer than I do in the Houston area. My reeds usually stay fairly constant otherwise. Perhaps someone from Lubbock, Midland, or El Paso would care to comment where the terrain and humidity are quite different.
jbutler
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2002-06-18 15:14
Texas is a big and experiences a wide variety of climates (even snow and ice!). You name it, they got it ...
Of course I remember visiting Western Australia a couple of times, where people told me "It's just like Texas - only it's big" ...
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: David Spiegelthal
Date: 2002-06-18 19:40
Reeds are bigger in Texas, of course. In Texas, a soprano clarinet reed is big enough to use on a bass clarinet anywhere else in the world except Australia or New Zealand, where they're just barely big enough to fit an Eb clarinet.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Brian
Date: 2002-06-19 10:40
Mike H.,
Shhhhhhh...you weren't supposed to tell anyone we have a/c in Louisiana. Now all those darn Texans will start crossing the Sabine...
Just kidding!
Peace!
Brian
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2002-06-19 14:36
We can create our own micro-environments for both our instruments and reeds by controlling the ambient relative humidity (RH), and hopefully the HVAC engineers will maintain the temperature within specified limits- all bets are off (maybe in Texas too) if you are playing an outdoor gig however. If you condition and hold your reeds within a RH range of 40-60% before playing (by keeping them in a sealed container like a humidor or plastic kitchen ware container with desiccant and RH indicator - <50% RH also inhibits mold growth)then they should play practically the same in any environment (some of the pro's do this for performances). Once you begin to play the RH around the reed goes up into the 90% range in any environment if the ambient temperature is between 65-80 degrees F). If the reed is conditioned with products that add humectants then the swelling or warpage of the reed is buffered. If you are in an air-conditioned environment without proper moisture conditioning or an extremely dry environment the reed will loose moisture more quickly but still be in the 80-90% RH range if you keep playing without extended breaks. Mouthpiece caps will keep moisture more controlled and some pro's wrap their mouthpiece and reed with plastic wrap or use conditioning agents on the reeds to maintain moisture in the reed in dry environments.
The Doctor
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
