 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: orchestr
Date: 2010-07-26 22:12
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I have noticed an oddity with my reeds, and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions or explanations. I usually keep my reeds in vandoren holders (8-reed), but put them in a plastic bag, which I fold over but don't seal. I feel this allows them to dry more slowly and more evenly, which I thought would reduce warpage. However, I have found that, while most reeds warp convexly (bow out in the middle), my reed tables are concave! I have discovered this using two tests, the first is by wetting the reed and laying it table-down on a piece of glass. Looking at the opposite side of the glass, I can see that the only parts that are touching are the sides. Secondly, when I scrape along the table of the reed with my reed knife, reed dust only shows up on the parts of the knife that touch the sides of the reed. I've attached pictures to try and demonstrate show this. In the second picture, the darker areas are the wet parts of the reed that are touching the glass. They do pass the wobble test, because there's no fulcrum around which to wobble! I tried breaking in a different box without putting them in a plastic bag, and they did the same thing, although perhaps to a lesser degree. I live in a fairly humid area, though the reeds are usually inside where its air-conditioned.
Just wondering if anyone had any thoughts.
Post Edited (2010-07-26 22:18)
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2010-07-26 22:35
Any piece of wood, that of course includes reed cane, will warp if it's going from wet to dry. My explanation is on my website as to what I do on the reed pages. I've been doing what I explain and have not had a single clarinet reed warp in over 25 years. Basically I never let the half of the reed that has the bark on it ever touch water, period. That helps prevent the reed from warping because that hard portion of the reed never goes from wet to dry. I also seal the pores and keep them humidity controlled by using the Rico Vitalizers in an air tight plastic bag and never, I mean never, allow them to sit out in the open air. Before the Vitalizers I used a different method. As I said, and I stand by it, my clarinet reeds never warp and always seal on the facing of the mouthpiece. Check it out and feel free to contact me via e-mail if you have any questions. ESP
http://eddiesclarinet.com
ESP eddiesclarinet.com
Post Edited (2010-07-27 00:07)
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