The Clarinet BBoard

Re: "drying" your reeds w/ or w/o humidity?

Author: WhitePlainsDave  Date:   2015-04-26 19:37 What type of case are you storing your reeds in? http://www.amazon.com/Lock-1-5-Cups-Removable-Trays/dp/B0028LT9DI. (If I may add a question of yours here Roxann, why am I using this.) This product was--with the only element changed the product label--the now discontinued Rico Reed Vault. I have nothing against Rico, but my experience has been that when a music products company repurposes a device, be it Lock and Lock's aforementioned container, or Rico's humdity packs (Boveda makes them), a price markup is often associated with this. When I need to buy additional humidity packs (72% I choose), I'll buy Boveda or Rico, based mostly on competitive price. I tend to buy directly from Boveda because they've been honorable merchants, and I have to assume theyare most likely to have fresh product. Truth be told though, humidty products like this come shrink wrapped. I suspect prior to breaking this seal, the have good shelf life. I use this approach because I find that reeds require less work to be ready to play. In fact if a reed's tip is wavy, I can tell that's its time to replace the humidity packs, as the reed has dried out, and its tip is wavy from different patterns of drying in the wood--which when it happens, is usually remedied by just exposing it to longer hydration prior to play. I don't know what I do preserves their life or makes them better. And I don't think anyone has the holy grail answer to what works best, as it all boils down to our personal perception of how a reed plays. I'm not saying hydration is smoke and mirrors...absolutely not...but shall we all recall brilliant players of days gone by who never did this....made their own reeds from scratch? I use the container I do because it's pretty darn air tight, which allows my humidity packs their maximum life. Point being, it's a decision of dollars and cents, not musicianship for me here. "Are you storing them in a Vandoren-type reed case " You bet I am Roxann. But not the one you're thinking of. Mine's those beautifully architected pieces of plastic that come in a Vandoren or Rico (maybe D'Addario too) reed box. Why again do they stick those pieces of wood in these little plastic cases??? Someone told me it's to keep the plastic case from warping. Seriously, some swear that reeds should only "rest" (notice my deliberate avoidance of the 3 letter reed curse word "dry") with the flat side facing up. Still others think this insane, as a flat reed table and tip is most likely to stay that way with positive pressure against the reed on a flat non porous surface, table down. I'm not sure it even matters if you're exposing resting reeds to humidity. But to my point, in situations like this, and consistent with mockery ad capaigns like that in the States for Twix Candy Bar left versus right bar war http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/twix-unveils-rivalry-campaign-pitting-left-bar-against-right-bar-141922 I like the Rico plastic cases, which apply pressure AND air to the reed table. Does this affect reed performance? Probably not. It was my compromise to each "reed storage camp's" philosphy. "How is it working for you?" Okay I guess, which might be the same answer if I left reeds on my mouthpiece after play. ===== All this said, please, 30 seconds on my soapbox. I get that players seek every way possible to make the clarinet playing experience more managable. But I've also seen too many players focus too much of their time on this endeavor, which has no one right answer. That's time away from etude books, the real magic that makes all reeds sound better. I'm not advocating playing garbage reeds, but I would like to point out the answer I gave recently to budding student who needed to be less gear-centric, and who asked me the same question.... I told him, with a wink and a smile, that the best storage place for a reed was between the pages of the Rose studies book that he wasn't currently playing, while learning the pages of same that were assigned to him. I get that many of you are hypervigilant about the repetitive, metronome based study of classic clarinet books I preach about. I apologize if I have offended you in my "preaching to the choir." I have 5 seconds left. I'm turning them over to Jon Manasse's tip on reeds https://youtu.be/6zIOoaq_vbc?t=8m23s

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