Author: Dutchy
Date: 2009-11-23 23:09
Ah, what I call the "bonk" factor. ![[grin]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie5.gif)
Yes, people do tend to bonk into your reed without realizing how fragile it is. You just learn to be ferociously protective of it. See, you haven't had to develop those instincts yet because you've been using an El Cheapo plastic reed that you didn't particularly care about, so if it gets bonked, you're like "meh". But when you're using $20 handmade reeds, like I am, boy, you sure get anal about your reed and about where it is at any given moment, and who or what is near it.
I have a double soaker that I made out of two little film canisters. I stuck them to each other with a strip of duct tape, and then I stuck that little two-canister package to a big magnet with another strip of duct tape, and then the whole thing goes magnetically on the "stick", the upright, of the music stand, with 1/2" of water in one canister and the other canister empty. This gives me not only a way to dip/soak my reed while I'm at my seat, but also it gives me the empty canister to set the reed in while I'm not playing, because if you set your oboe on its stand next to you with the reed sticking out of it, sure as shootin the Flute next to you will bonk into it, and then it's Oh, sorry. So when I'm not playing, I take the reed out of the oboe and put it in the "dry" canister.
And what I do to keep people from banging into my reed while I'm carrying it is, I carry it in my mouth, not in my hand, because if it's in your hand, someone will bonk into it. It may look strange, but I just smile sweetly and pass on, reed in mouth.
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The Oboe BBoard
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