Author: Ursa
Date: 2014-05-28 19:26
Stan, in the event of a reed emergency, here's what I do:
1. Five minutes of soaking in warm water
2. When removing the reed from the water, just shake the water off--don't dry it beyond that
3. Massage the reed vamp vigourously with the fingers on a glass until the moisture coming off of it has become starchy, looking a bit like skim milk
4. Massage the underside of the reed for about the same time as it took to draw starch out of the vamp
5. Wipe the reed with a Kleenex and play. Also wipe the starchy mess off of your glass...
If at all possible, I prepare a pair of reeds, not just one, and rotate them to get through the job. They will play well for about 20-30 minutes before needing a change.
Rico Orange Box, Rico Royal, Mitchell Lurie, and Vandoren V12 can be pressed into service this way and may turn out to be good reeds. Zonda, Gonzalez FOF, Olivieri, Alexander Superial, and Vandoren Traditional will probably end up ruined!
War stories? Here in Michigan, for the last few years, we've had awful springtimes where the weather suddenly goes from 50 degrees (F) and rainy to 80 and humid with no intervening weeks of sunny 65 degree weather. Two weeks ago I went to rehearsal with 12 carefully broken-in reeds and they all were unplayable. The rest of the clarinet section was in the same dire situation as me. A plethora of obscenities were uttered...
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The Clarinet BBoard
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