The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: clarinet713
Date: 2003-06-08 00:25
Hello,
This is mostly for The Doctor-how often is ReedLife to be used on reeds?
Thank you!
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Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2003-06-08 02:39
(Disclaimer - I sell ReedLife) I have a reed rotation that involves about 20 reeds, 5-7 will be performance reeds. I play each reed, after break-in, about an hour or two and dry it on my Thirsty Reed Pad (which I sell) and then put it in a LaVoz reed holder in a humidity controlled <50% RH chamber (a sealed TupperWare container with a drying agent and hygrometer will do). After I fill up a 4 place reed holder I will treat them with ReedLife, dry them before putting them away for the next round in the rotation. I guess that a good schedule might be using ReedLife after playing a given reed for 5-10 hours straight and not in rotation. ReedLife will sanitize the reeds removing food particles, mold and bacteria. ReedLife also imparts humectants to the reeds which IMHO allows them to rehydrade more quickly and thoroughly, then dry out more slowly (often used by players that must use different horn in the course of a performance to avoid the "dry reed squeaking syndrome").
We have some terrible humidity problems here in Georgia (especially this year) and unless cleaned, sanitized, and stored in low humidity, reeds tend to mold quickly if left in ambient environment.
The claims for ReedLife (not mine necessarily) are that it sanitizes and removes skin particles, mold and bacteria which it does with a stabilized form of hydrogen peroxide. It has a proprietary blend of humectants which are claimed to allow the reed to rehydrate more quickly and dry out more slowly - my testing indicates that this is valid. It will not make a bad reed into a good reed but it claims to make a good reed last longer - there are too many variables for my tests to prove or disprove this claim.
I use ReedLife not because I get it for free for helping in the manufacture, but it works for me. I get a lot of free stuff but will only continue to use those products that work for me. As with any product you should try it yourself and make your own judgements about utility and effectiveness.
The Doctor
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