 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2002-02-26 02:07
I may be behind the curve (and often new products are the last to reach the U.S. or I am the last to find out about them) but just tried the new BG composite reed at the TMEA Show. Interesting - won't say bad or good until I have a chance to play it for a while under various conditions (and several reeds for comparison) but -- was initially impressed with the sound.
The reed is a composite of natural cane and plastic. Looks somewhat like a normal reed - slightly darker and more mottled but not weird. Like the Greenline I do not know if the natural product (grenadilla wood or in this case arundo donax) really alters the sound characteristics or the engineering (plastic composition) is especially formulated to mimic the real natural wood or cane. Any other comments on he new reed?
The Doctor
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Author: diz
Date: 2002-02-26 02:13
Wow! how the heck did they marry the two seemingly unmarryable thingys together?
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Author: Jim E.
Date: 2002-02-26 03:05
Plastic and wood fiber composites are becoming common in the building trades, a well known example is the decking material "trex." The marriage is usually performed by a combination of heat and high pressure, even more effective than a preacher and a shotgun!
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Author: diz
Date: 2002-02-26 04:28
I'll take the high pressure and heat, thanks!
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Author: diz
Date: 2002-02-26 04:45
no, bob - I aren't - but thanks for asking!! but it would seem my gender changed recently, though - I didn't know about it!
diz (male) sydney (australia)
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Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2002-02-26 12:24
To be more specific - the reed product is called the S2000 and is available in sax and clarinet in the usual 1/2 strengths. The BG representative said that it will soon be distributed through the usual mail order and retail distribution system as other BG products. *Note - I have no financial interest or receive any benefit from this product and do not reccommend or endorse it - just my novice observations.
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Author: Bob
Date: 2002-02-26 13:33
I have no specific information re how this reed is made,however, I have often wondered why one couldn't soak a reed in "outdoor variety" polyurethane(synthetic clear "varnish"), wipe it off, let it dry and use it. I am aware that wood can be vacuum impregnated with various curable "plastics" so as to strengthen and stabilize them. Remember the "all plastic" white reeds we used during WWII?
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2002-02-26 15:51
Boyle's First Law of Politics (as quoted by Michael Flanders):
The greater the external pressure, the greather the volume of hot air.
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Author: David Spiegelthal
Date: 2002-02-26 16:48
I was under the impression that much of the characteristic sound and response of natural cane could be attributed to the semi-random fibrous structure of the material. Legere synthetic reeds are, as I understand it, unique in that they are manufactured in such a way as to draw the polymer material out into a longitudinal fibrous network rather similar to that of natural cane. All the other synthetic reed materials I'm aware of, including also such non-reed things as Buffet Greenline material, Trex flooring, and basic hardware-store particle board, are "isotropic" (I think it's the right word, I'm trying to say 'non-directional or 'non-oriented') matrices of particles (NOT longitudinal fibers) in a resin binder, or just plain non-oriented plastics. The aforementioned BG composite reed sounds like it falls into the same category. If it doesn't have a fibrous structure with a certain amount of randomness to it (a la natural cane), then I would be skeptical of it sounding like natural cane, regardless of what combination of materials is used to make it.
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Author: Bob
Date: 2002-03-01 23:04
Ken: is that the Flanders of Swann? You are indeed a devious isotrope; but I didn't do that well in Phys.Chem. so I always get Boyle and Avogadro confused.
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