 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: BGBG
Date: 2017-10-12 01:57
Using Boveda packs in plastic sandwich containers and pill bottles with sponge and holes in caps my case is 70 % humidity and reeds are 70-75 humidity. Room humidity is 50% right now. Is this acceptable and if not, what is?
I use mostly 3 and 2.5 reeds.
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Author: Burt
Date: 2017-10-12 02:18
With an ebonite clarinet and Legere reeds, I make no effort to change the humidity from the value in the room.
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Author: kdk
Date: 2017-10-12 03:06
BGBG wrote:
> Using Boveda packs in plastic sandwich containers and pill
> bottles with sponge and holes in caps my case is 70 % humidity
> and reeds are 70-75 humidity. Room humidity is 50% right now.
> Is this acceptable and if not, what is?
> I use mostly 3 and 2.5 reeds.
Your reed strength is irrelevant. If you mean the reed case is 70% relative humidity and the reeds play comfortably, then that level of humidity is fine for the reeds. If you mean the clarinet case is 70%, think it's too high for the instrument. I don't normally humidify anything, though, so my answer isn't likely to please you. If it's the instrument case itself that's 70%, why would you want it that high?
Karl
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Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2017-10-12 03:09
Are the plastic bags air tight? Actually it doesn't matter. Do NOT use them. Sounds like HEAVEN for mold to grow and lung issues in your body, plus mouth and tongue fungus. You do not need plastic bags, nor humidity at these high levels. Reeds will play wherever you live if they are good. If they are not good and you don't know how to fix them or often they cannot be fixed, even by a master reed maker throw them out.
There is no normal range. In places like Chicago, all of Canada, in the winter, the humidity is zero. It's frozen everywhere. The rings on the bells of horns spin because of the wood being so dried out. The rings between the joints fall off. In the summer months most of southern California it never rains, with less than 15 percent humidity. I still have to play everyday, often 4 hours and more.
I personally feel you might be taking the reed situation too far. To the point of getting yourself physically sick with mold. You may not see the mold, but it is there. I'm a reed master so reeds need to be treated correctly. If they are wet all of the time they won't play very well. They WILL grow mold. They need to dry out and rest. Reeds also suck a lot of the time. You usually can't make a bad reed with poor fibers and weak cell structure become anything more than a bad reed. Throw it out. Think of a great wine and a really bad wine. Cane works the same way. In fact great wine and great cane are often found in the same areas.
The BEST reeds still come from the Var region of France. But if this area is hit with too much rain, or not enough rain the cane will suffer for the whole year. Same with wine. Cane from other countries just doesn't last very long. Sometimes maybe a week sometimes less. If you are lucky and the year was a good year, maybe 2 weeks. But the Var region is special. Most of the time you can get 30 days to 4 months out of 1 reed. Mitchell Lurie was sometimes able to get 9 months or more out of 1 reed. His reeds were from the Var region only. How do I know this? I made his reeds for 15 years. A total of around 15 million reeds or so. I made other reeds as well, but I was completely in charge of his reeds. They were not pro line reeds. They were geared for students and they were great. Although a lot of pros bought his reeds. I selected only the finest VAR cane, sometimes 4 years ahead before the cane was ever cut into reeds. I hand picked the best of the Var cane. Such as knowledge of knowing where the cane was facing the sun, how it was dried, looking at the fibers with microscopes, and much more. Then the reeds were cut twice for perfection using 2 diamonds spinning at 15000 RPM's. This is only just a glimpse of what I know about cane and reeds so take advantage of the health dangers you are facing. I know about these dangers.
So too much humidity will kill the reeds and maybe kill you with lung infections and mouth fungus. Do you want your teeth to fall out? Your tongue to blister all of the time? Trouble breathing? Do not mess with humidity. You are out of your league.
Buy a book by Fred Ormand and learn how to adjust reeds. If the reeds cannot be adjusted throw the reeds out.
Hope this helps.
Designer of - Vintage 1940 Cicero Mouthpieces and the La Vecchia mouthpieces
Yamaha Artist 2015
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Author: BGBG
Date: 2017-10-12 03:43
I do not really know much about this. When began I just put in mouth a few minutes and stored in clarinet case. Then started reading all this humidity and soaking thing and all the things people soak them in for lengths of time and even 24/7. I just started trying things to see.
The humidity I mention is just what "IS". Not trying to achieve a certain amount. Just wondering what is suitable. I agree maybe I am carrying it a bit far and maybe will go back to simply room humidity and see how it works. Most things I read say maybe soak in warm tap water 1-5 minutes. I know from what I have read there are some pretty way out fanatics with elaborate procedures. And I wonder about mold, how to tell if have it and how to deal with it. It couldn't be good for you. I know everybody seems to think their procedure is best and I can hardly challenge it. Just seeking guidance from experienced player.
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Author: kdk
Date: 2017-10-12 04:12
BGBG wrote:
> I do not really know much about this. When began I just put in
> mouth a few minutes and stored in clarinet case.
I personally think you were right to begin with. Just wet it for as long as it takes for the tip to straighten out and the reed to play well. Then play.
> Then started
> reading all this humidity and soaking thing and all the things
> people soak them in for lengths of time and even 24/7.
The trouble is, what you're reading is a lot of individual players' witchcraft and not much in the way of authority or even consistency. You read what everyone *thinks* - in their own experience - works for them. I think Bob knows as much about reeds as anyone here and more than most. If I were going to take anyone's advice about reeds, it would be Bob's.
Karl
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Author: LC007
Date: 2017-10-12 06:08
BGBG,
Can't comment on reeds but for your instrument, 50% room humidity is ideal. You should not need to humidify. I keep all my gear, including some nice guitars in the same room and keep an eye on temp and humidity. My guitars would not be playable at 70%. I suspect my clarinet would probably get really tight. I have a small room size dehumidifier and humidifier and use them as needed. The only draw back is you usually have to keep the windows closed in order to control things. My neighbours probably appreciate that on some days!
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Author: bmcgar ★2017
Date: 2017-10-12 20:26
Before you humidify the case, you might consider what might happen if you open the case in an environment whose humidity differs greatly from that in the case: Stress.
The greater the difference, the greater the shock to the wood.
(Talk to some woodworkers and clarinet builders about this. There's a reason why they take lots of time to let their wood stabilize before they work on it, and why naturally dried wood is preferable to kiln dried.)
Personally, after nearly sixty years of playing and owning dozens of clarinets, I've never bothered messing with case humidifiers, and never had a crack, and I know few pro-level players who mess with this.
As for reeds, humidifying might make it easier to start playing quicker, but your reeds will come up to the humidity of your breath within a few minutes of playing anyway. The only situation in which you might see an advantage is if you have to set the clarinet aside for long periods during a performance and you have the time to put your reed in a humidified reed case and attach it to the clarinet when you need it later.
B.
Post Edited (2017-10-12 20:32)
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Author: nellsonic
Date: 2017-10-13 04:35
I've found keeping reeds humidified at 72% in a D'addario case has made a big difference in their longevity and in my pleasure in playing from the first note, as have my students. Why should we have to wait for a reed to start playing well when we can get right to it?
Here in Southern California we have a pretty friendly climate for reeds, but I've noticed that keeping them humidified almost completely eliminates the subtle warping of the back that causes extra resistance. It's also nice to never have to deal with that dusty dry reed taste or a crinkled tip. Mold has never been a problem.
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Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2017-10-13 04:37
If you wet your reeds for about 3 to 5 minutes before playing on them, well this should be fine. If the reeds are new, right out of the box and you feel them changing, re-wet them. They should spring back to life. If they don't, put them aside and let them dry out, most likely they are too wet or just bad cane.
I think 5 minutes is plenty for reeds to soak in enough water. After they have been broken in you only need to wet them for about a minute or less. Such as a reed that is 2 to 6 weeks old. They are well sealed.
Soaking reeds for 24/7 will kill your reeds.
Karl is dead on about witchcraft. Keep things simple. Cane is actually classified as a weed. It is in the bamboo family and there are 256 different species. As said I kinda know a bit about this subject.
I am NOT pushing the Steuer reeds, but they have several cane fields in the VAR region and have since the 1940's. So if they have flooding or no rain on a given year they have 3 to 5 years of selected stored cane, they have so much cane! I am just letting people know that cane is like wine when you have great years take advantage of these seasons. When the cane is good buy a lot of boxes to last you for a few years. 1 box of good VAR reeds should last you at least or about a year. So if you buy 10 boxes you are set for maybe 10 years. I have enough reeds for about 10 years. They don't go bad. But the color does chance slightly. By the way, although I import these reeds I have to buy them just like everyone else. I import them because the cane is so good and great players such as Sabine Meyer play on them. They are completely PESTICIDE FREE. The water, fertilizers, surrounding areas, are all natural.
Designer of - Vintage 1940 Cicero Mouthpieces and the La Vecchia mouthpieces
Yamaha Artist 2015
Post Edited (2017-10-13 08:55)
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2017-10-13 17:31
Read the reed pages on my website, I've written about this topic. I've been very successful in my long professional playing and teaching career doing what I suggest. In my opinion humidity control is probably the most important element to sustaining the quality of a decent reed. Not to much, not to little but controlled. Read it.
ESP eddiesclarinet.com
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2017-10-15 17:33
Roxann, my website is with my signature below. eddiesclarinet.com Lots of articles but It's no longer supported so I can't edit it any more.
ESP eddiesclarinet.com
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Author: Micke Isotalo ★2017
Date: 2017-10-16 11:12
My experience with reeds is the following:
* If indoors humidity is 50 % or more, arranging for any extra humidity would just be a waste of time and effort - or even causing possible mold.
* If using humidifiers, either self-made or others, I would keep the level as close to 50 % as possible, not exceeding about 55 % - to avoid possible mold.
* If indoors humidity is more than 70 % I would arrange for a less humid environment for my reeds. Both to avoid mold and since they don't play well in such a wet state.
* Vandoren recommends a 40-70 % humidity level for their reeds, but in my experience artificially added humidity to a 55-70 % level may cause mold.
* If you don't mind monitoring the humidity level in numbers, the Vandoren Hygro reed case (for 6 reeds, HRC10 or HRC20) has worked very well for me. Just add water to the sponge when the indicator turns blue instead of pink. If room humidity is 50 % or more, take out the sponge or keep it dry. I have never had problems with mold with these cases and I've been using them for years now.
* Mold may appear in different ways, for example as dark or black dots (usually on the vamp, not the bark) or as web-like growth which may be greenish, grayish or whitish. Besides the vamp also the bottom end of the reed may be affected.
With clarinets I once took out a new wooden clarinet that had been stored for about a year. It was wintertime with low indoors humidity and several of the keys were binding. I but a humidifying device in the case and kept it that way for a few days. After that the keys worked just fine. However, and as has been said above by others, I have never had any need for extra humidity for a clarinet in regular use.
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