Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2017-07-24 00:15
WhitePlainsDave wrote:
>
> I don't know. And I keep mine in a humidity controlled
> environment when not in play.
>
> Maybe, in part, it does become worse while we play but we don't
> notice it given the gradual nature with which this happens
> during play.
>
I don't know why this happens, either. But my best *conjecture* (with no real scientific backing) has been that three actions are at work:
1 - As you play a reed when it's new out-of-the-box, its pores are quite open and absorb water easily. Most of this water sits in the area that's in your mouth as you play. As the reed rests after playing, the water wicks farther into the cane. When you wet it and play the next day you aren't dealing with the same distribution of moisture.
2 - Related to (1), unless you stop very soon in the process of adjusting a brand new reed, you will end up adjusting the way it vibrates when its tip is fairly saturated, when it is likely more flexible than it will ever be again. Because as a result of the wetting and drying cycle, the pores begin to close up (some players deliberately "seal" the cane as part of the process) and it takes longer for water to soak in.
3 - The image in my mind (again related to 1) of what happens while I'm playing a new reed is that the tubes that form the grain quickly fill up with water and become swollen. When the water wicks farther in or dries from the surface, I'm not sure that the tubes actually return to their initial size or shape. So the structure of the cane actually changes with the first soaking (or so I imagine).
The one common element in everyone's reed "break-in" process is that adjustment should be done incrementally over several sessions because of these unavoidable changes in the cane itself. The reed won't vibrate reliably until these changes have run their course and the cane stabilizes.
Karl
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