The Clarinet BBoard

Re: Long term reed storage

Author: kdk  Date:   2020-04-20 21:39 qp wrote: > I suppose not so much obviously > green but quite obviously not aged - they clearly become less > like this as they age when played. > I don't think that's aging per se. That's what happens as reeds are used. Aging is done before the reeds are even cut and involves different processes. No reed looks after a week of regular playing the way it did when it came out of the box. > Hmm ok yes perhaps I am tending towards an approach of storing > the reeds out of the plastic rubbish for some time in a shoebox > or something - not in the elements but sealed up either. I do > live in the sub-tropics though, so humidity levels will not be > as stable as many other places... not sure how this would > affect any ageing process. I don't think reeds "age" over the short term, but I'd be interested to have someone who knows the science involved contradict me. I just think most of us base our theories about reeds on nothing but very subjective and entirely anecdotal evidence. Leave them alone for a year or two and they may play differently. I unwrap my Vandorens and let them be exposed to the open air for a few weeks - I don't know that they respond any better, but it can't hurt them and I can hope that it helps. I'd truly love to have some scientific input about all of this. Something more data-based than "I think" or "I believe" or even "I hope." And something beyond the flat assertions in the manufacturers' advertising hype. Like others, I recently discovered a small cache of Vandoren reeds I bought probably in the early 1970s (definitely pre-V.12) and had never used. They played very differently - much more responsive than my new Vandorens. Had they aged over 40 years? Was the cane better in the first place? Has Vandoren changed its reed cuts to match a contemporary demand for "darkness?" I just don't know. > > Perhaps part of the thinking is that by delivering under-aged > reeds, sealed up, Vandoren is attempting to maintain the > dimensions of the reeds in some way. > Maintaining the dimensions doesn't seem to be a problem for other manufacturers who ship their reeds in paper or cardboard. IMO Vandoren's wrapping is a marketing tool, and I don't know if it's hurting sales or helping. I don't understand what the basis is for your finding the reeds "under-aged." Could be some of it is just bad cane. I've heard (I can't remember where, so no authority to offer) that Vandoren has been using cane from outside the Var region - places in South America, for example. Maybe the growing conditions are not comparable to those in the Var. Maybe their cane is under-aged, but if the bark color is "golden" to tan and the cut vamp looks uniform in color without a visibly green tinge, I don't know how to tell cane that is sufficiently aged from cane that isn't. > But I suppose what I am looking for by ageing is a product that > might be more robust, less likely to change drastically as it > is broken in, and might last a bit longer. Hopefully there will > be some tonal benefits also. > These are exactly the benefits cited by players who make their own reeds. One important difference is that the process of making reeds by hand includes a lot of wetting and drying as the reed is being shaped, profiled and balanced. So a lot of the changes caused by the cyclical wetting and drying of playing have already happened during the cutting process. Hmmm. I'm starting to talk myself into making my own reeds. (Almost, but not quite.) Karl

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