 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: alanporter
Date: 2009-01-29 14:37
M. Ernest Ferron, French instrument maker and author of the book "The Clarinet Revealed", claims that reeds that are saturated with salt water are generally always ready to play. Does anyone know anything about this ?
Alan
tiaroa@shaw.ca
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Author: rsholmes
Date: 2009-01-29 15:12
Saturated with?
Or kept in a container above a reservoir with a saturated salt solution?
I tried the latter -- Google a bit, you'll find literature about how the atmosphere above a saturated salt solution stays close to a constant humidity, 65% or so from what I remember, and so people have made reed containers using that principle.
For me it worked pretty well during the winter but once warm weather arrived, so did mold.
One or two reeds accidentally got salt water on them, and the were not fun to play until the salt was gone. I can't imagine trying to play reeds soaked in salt water.
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Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2009-01-29 15:47
(Disclaimer - I sell humidity control and measurement products - no connection with Rico Vitalizer)
The relaive humidity in the air inside a sealed container can be controlled using saturated salt solutions - the principal behind the Rico Vitalizer packs. A saturated salt solution of common table salt is often used in cigar humidors to keep humidity up but is also a handy tool to use to calibrate hygrometers to 65% RH. Mold will only grow vegetatively (spores are always around) if the RH is greater than 50% so choosing another chemical salt which will achieve a lower RH is good practice if you live in mold prone areas.
I have not tried a salt solution on my reeds but saliva has a significant chemical load including NaCl but at only around 0.9%, also a protein load which increases the water displacement potential by a few percent. I have not seen a great difference in hydrating reeds with plain water or saliva but YMMV.
L. Omar Henderson
www.doctorsprod.com
Post Edited (2009-01-29 15:48)
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