Author: vboboe
Date: 2008-12-24 19:27
yes, agree, tone of reeds depends a lot on how dry or wet they are
anecdotally, over-soaking is said to shorten reed's playing life because water leaches the cane and weakens it -- and, since playing breaks the fibers apart (rapid vibrations do that) there are more entrances for water to leach the cane as the reed ages, thus, old reeds are more porous than young reeds, and that could equal pre-soak young reeds a bit longer and just wet-up old reeds by dipping and laying flat to soak up
once a playing reed is in water, my mind is set on alert mindfulness, they need me to rescue them from drowning ... so i like to have all essential other chores done and off my to-do list before pre-soaking reeds
i can't play my reeds if they're really dry, they're stiff, unresponsive, resistant and produce a low, dry dull sound, so at least some wetting up makes them flexible enough to vibrate cheerfully
like anything else with reeds, it's all relative and hugely intuitive -- based on unconscious competance from the experience of playing many different reeds over time -- but that isn't helpful to someone who wants to know if there are any general guidelines
i think the easiest guideline to go by is put reeds in water before starting to set up for playing, the time it takes to set up is usually enough for reeds to be in water
i haven't had the scum problem, perhaps the residual bleach agent in our local water is strong enough to sanitize my reeds
what i do in this winter weather is put 3 reeds in tepid water at the tap
sit down in my home practice area
physically warm up oboe pieces if they're cold to the touch
assemble instrument & hold it between knees, calves & ankles to keep it warmish
put out my music and sort it so i've got what i want to practice all ready in order
... and then test a reed by pressing and feeling it between my lips
if it feels ready i squawk it, that usually tells me if it's fully flexible or just partly flexible
if the latter, dip again, scooping up water inside the blades, and place in warm mouth to let it soak in
... and then test it on low D, if it can play there and on down to low Bb quite softly, it's wet enough to play
... and then, if it plays top C#, D and Eb (half hole notes) cheerfully and loudly with light to moderate air behind them, it's 'dry enough' to play too
... and then i take the other two out and put them in the reed case
when i go to orchestra practice, i drive there and park, put 3 reeds in covered vial of water while still in the car, lockup, walk into the warm hall, get chair, sit down, set up music stand, take reeds out of water, gently shake off some excess and put them into closed reed case, get music and instrument out, etc. and when ready to play, select the reed i already know will do an easy A-440 first :-)
keeping the reeds inside a closed reed case keeps them nice and moist all the time to coffee break even in the warm hall, so usually any of the other reeds are playable right away for the second half, although pre-warming in moist mouth helps ensure their flexibility
so all in all that's maybe 5 minutes while the reeds are directly in water
these are reeds that have already been blown in, used a little bit ahead of time
for brand new reeds out of the box, i presoak them "enough" -- it depends how dry they look to start with -- usually 10-20 mins for medium reeds, depending on how dry and warm the air temperature is, and i use tepid water in cold weather, and tap cold water in hot weather
for 'old' reeds -- those that are past their playing prime -- cannot produce or maintain a sustained forte -- but still playable and still tuneful for practicing softly on scales etc -- i dip these reeds in water and put them in reed case with some water between the blades to soak in, that's usually enough most of the year
except in very hot dry weather, then i leave them in water so they're wet all the way through first -- they dry out so fast while playing, it's better to make sure they're nicely 'plump' first, so in very hot dry weather i put a played reed back into water rather than air dry them
most of the year here i like to change the first reed when it's been played awhile, because otherwise it gets 'too wet to play' -- when a wet reed can't produce a vibrant forte and is 'whiny' when played softly, time is already overdue to air-dry it before using it again
hope this lengthy treatise helps
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