The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: gregbaker112@gmail.com
Date: 2019-06-23 06:09
Greetings from not (yet) humid Minnesota!
What impact does a change in barometric air pressure have on the playability of reeds? Asking for a friend (me).
Greg Baker
gregbaker112@gmail.com
😀 "Hey! I got nothing to do today but smile."
-Paul Simon
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2019-06-23 07:42
I have had two inexplicable instances where I could't even get a sound out of a clarinet (just mouthpiece; on clarinet-tried three different ones). This happened one day last October and the other just two days ago. If I had a concert on those days I would have been completely without recourse.
The only thing I can attribute this two is some odd confluence of temperature, humidity and barometric pressure (air pressure determines how fast air molecules move). For the record these were pre-storm days with particularly low pressure (29.5ish).
But I have no scientific explanation for why my playing completely shut down.
.................Paul Aviles
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2019-06-23 22:46
I thought I'd add Ricardo Morales' direct answer to your question:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0BmXMoPFHs
At 00:53 Ricardo Morales speaks of his reed strength options and notes that in high altitude places like Colorado, he uses a reed a half strength softer than closer to sea level.
Less pressure = softer reed
.............Paul Aviles
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Author: Tobin
Date: 2019-06-24 02:47
Paul is dead on. I have a friend who performs throughout the world, and he had to perform in Peru (I think?) at 8000+ ft. He went with a more open mouthpiece and a much softer reed.
I’m in central Virginia (~450 ft) and frequently find myself performing in the blue ridge mountains (~1000-1700ft)...and I use a softer reeds when I’m in the mountains.
Having said that — I haven’t noticed the same issue with the synthetics that I now use, but I’m also not changing a really significant altitude.
James
Gnothi Seauton
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