 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: donald
Date: 2023-12-13 06:37
Hi there,
In 2022 my wife and I experienced REED ARMAGEDDON when traveling from Eugene OR to Reno, and discovered none of our reeds worked. Reeds that sounded great in Eugene sounded like tissue paper over a comb in Reno.
Next year, in January, my wife has to travel from NZ (Summer temperature, reasonably humid and at sea level) to Minnesota and nearby places (that we assume will be cold and dry). She has to be playing within a few hours of getting off the plane, and we're getting a pile of reeds ready so she has a smorgasboard of strengths etc to choose from.
Should we expect...
- all reeds will feel softer?
- all reeds will feel harder?
I'm not sure if the difference between Eugene and Reno was due to change in humidity, OR altitude (or a combination).
Any advice, anecdotes welcome!
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2023-12-13 08:23
I don't know how to interpret the information that Eugene Oregon is an elevation of 430ft......to 2260ft. If you lived in the 1000+ range it would make sense that you'd probably have to step up your reed strength slightly for sea level. The humidity (or lack there of) of Reno would make your reeds brittle sounding and or just non-responsive.
You have a month to get into the Legere French Cut reeds.
But for cane my only recommendation would be to have some really well broken in reeds (at least five days of light playing) stored in some form of humidified reed pack (sponge, dampit, whatever retains water). If there is ANY local time available in Minnesota it would be a good idea to obtain at least one box of your favorite reeds that have been sitting there for awhile and try picking a few "winners" to play as back-ups in case the broken in ones crash.
...........Paul Aviles
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Julian ibiza
Date: 2023-12-13 10:50
The video link offered recently by Secondtry on the " Clarinet reed blanks" thread may be helpful .
I would imagine that keeping the reeds is something like a ziplock plastic bag should go a long way to maintaining their humidity content.
Putting in some orange peel may also help.
Julian Griffiths
Tel. 34 696 798 853
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Micke Isotalo ★2017
Date: 2023-12-13 13:29
Going from high to low humidity, I would generally expect the reeds to feel softer. BUT, I would really stress the word "generally" here, since in my experience nothing concerning cane is REALLY predictable. Thus, albeit in rare occasions, I've experienced also the OPPOSITE - with reeds feeling harder instead of softer (still going from high to low humidity).
I guess the only thing one could be really sure about (almost), is that the reeds are not going to feel the same in Minnesota as in NZ.
The strategy you already have, with a vast amount of both harder and softer reeds, should be the best - but a bit larger pile of the harder ones could still be recommendable.
Where I live indoor humidity varies from at lowest 15-20% in wintertime, to a highest 60-70% in the summer. I've found the Vandoren Hygrocases really helpful during winter, but the strength variation is still there - but usually at least a "good" reed still feels good, stored in those cases.
A challenge is also the really dry air during flight, with a playing session almost immediately afterwards - but I believe some kind of hydrated storage will at least be helpful (and be sure to "fill up" the water levels or similar, just prior to embarking).
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: donald
Date: 2023-12-13 13:38
Thanks Micke, thanks for your advice (more or less what I thought). Yes hydrated storage is always helpful but especially when flying for 18 hours.
The difference we experienced going to Reno last year was extreme and quite surprisingly dramatic. Oddly enough, when playing at Clarinetfest 2003 in Salt Lake City I did NOT experience any problems (and in fact had an audience member come and interrogate me about my setup because they "liked my sound", that's a first). Then again, this may have been because prior to that I was touring the Barber of Seville for several months, so had been on the road and had a large number of concert-reeds sorted out...
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: lydian
Date: 2023-12-13 19:09
If the humidity inside your mouth is 100%, why does the outside humidity matter aside from you having to wet the reed more often when you rest?
I’ve played all over the world in all kinds of climates, and this has never been an issue. If anything, the air density due to humidity, elevation or temperature has an effect on intonation. Zero timbre change due to humidity.
Post Edited (2023-12-13 19:57)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2023-12-13 19:56
If the cane is not conditioned to retain enough moisture DURING the playing process, it can and will dry out rapidly EVEN WHILE PLAYING. I have my personal horror story but without going through that again, suffice to say that having emergency Legeres on hand will help you keep your sanity when all else fails (even for you dedicated cane folks out there).
...............Paul Aviles
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: SecondTry
Date: 2023-12-14 01:06
While I like what everyone's said far about both the use of synthetic reeds and the preparation of cane reeds such that they are more tolerant of changes to their surroundings, have you considered Donald (something I do) the use of sealed containers for your reeds with Boveda Humidity Control packs?
Please write back if you'd like links to this product or the musical cases that use it (a zip lock bag will work fine).
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: donald
Date: 2023-12-14 05:48
Thanks Luuk.
Lydian- both my wife and I have also toured extensively around the world (my wife mainly in USA and Europe including Russian winter conditions) and never had much trouble so I appreciate your anecdote, however the experience we had in 2022 (and many others also complained) was "a real thing" and not some mass hallucination.
Micke wrote...
"Going from high to low humidity, I would generally expect the reeds to feel softer. BUT, I would really stress the word "generally" here".
This is pretty much what everyone performing in Reno experienced (although some explained it as being to do with altitude rather than humidity). I asked about it here to poke around for any other ideas, see if it was "generally accepted wisdom" for those living in continental areas etc.
Btw I did live in Cincinnati for some years and there experienced very humid summers and very dry winters but during this period didn't travel much except to play Opera in Italy... where all my old dead reeds suddenly sounded great. That might have been the scenery (and red wine) talking. Has anyone tried soaking reeds in red wine, does this make them play better?
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: SecondTry
Date: 2023-12-14 07:13
I don't know if your serious about soaking reeds in wine nor do I know the effects on the reed.
But I do think it best to soak reeds in water over saliva given the latter's ability to digest carbs that we seek to avoid.
Sure, a reed's going to get exposed to plenty of saliva: I don't think it a mountain of difference, but especially when breaking in reeds, why hasten their decomposition beyond vibratory pressures with chemical ones?
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: donald
Date: 2023-12-14 07:19
SecondTry- yes, very good point. I have never really bothered much with this, and just wet reeds with my mouth. My wife on the other hand insists on always soaking her reeds in a glass of water before playing- absorbing the water limits the absorption of saliva and the process you describe. She is more successful and sounds better than me so I suspect she's right, I've just always been a bit too lazy in this regard.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Julian ibiza
Date: 2023-12-14 11:33
I would imagine that water is absorbed into the reed fibers more readily than saliva because it has a lower viscosity, but I might be wrong about that.
I think that it stands to reason however, that moisture invested in the stock will tend to feed a drying out vamp by capillary action .
I believe that some people dip the entire reed in water and perhaps this practice may keep the reed from drying out a bit longer.
As the reed acts like a wick, if the vamp is wetted the moisture will be drawn out of it towards the stock. If the stock contains moisture however, then that moisture will flow to nourish a drying out vamp.
There may be parts of the physics here that I'm overlooking, but getting a uniform moisture content established in the reed before performing is bound to help in the matter of maintaining it.
Julian Griffiths
Tel. 34 696 798 853
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Julian ibiza
Date: 2023-12-14 19:57
I don't know about soaking reeds in red wine, but it might be worth experimenting with wetting reeds in salt water, as the salt's hygroscopic properties should help to retain the moisture in them. Salt is also a topical antibiotic so that's another little plus.
Julian Griffiths
Tel. 34 696 798 853
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: lydian
Date: 2023-12-14 21:34
Salt crystals let behind when the reed dries are probably not a good thing. Saturating the whole reed with water for about a minute has worked great for me the past 50 years or so. But I will probably play synthetic on clarinet on my gig tomorrow due to the low humidity and sparse playing just to make my life easy.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
