 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: shahn
Date: 2011-04-24 02:09
I have been using only Vandoren reeds (Bb). . Recently I bought many versions of Rico reeds and started testing them. . I notice some of them taste strange on the tongue and lower lip which is not the case with Vandoren's. . Does the maker of Rico use some chemical to treat the reed blanks?
Sam
Post Edited (2011-04-24 02:38)
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Author: salzo
Date: 2011-04-24 03:01
YOu need to soak them in a shot of Jamaican rum -they taste real good after a good soaking.
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Author: Ed
Date: 2011-04-24 03:34
I have not found any issues or taste with them. If it bothers you, perhaps soak them in a glass of water the first few times.
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Author: Bassie
Date: 2011-04-24 06:13
I got some Daniel's once which tasted and smelled of something like TCP.
Aside from that, yes, different brands taste different. I generally find that good tasting ones play better. I have a suspicion there is some science behind this, something to do with the sugars in the cane.
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Author: sonicbang
Date: 2011-04-24 08:59
http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/read.html?f=1&i=325230&t=325096
You will find some interesting thing here.
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2011-04-24 11:59
If you had the problem with the cheapest Ricos (which used to come in a brown box and now I think come in an orange box), you're not alone. The taste is dusty, like dried out cardboard.
Just be glad you didn't try Vibrator reeds, which were a hundred times worse.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Alseg
Date: 2011-04-24 15:24
Salzo, I agree. But after reading the Lord Hawke mystery novels, I prefer Goslings Black Bermuda rum.
Former creator of CUSTOM CLARINET TUNING BARRELS by DR. ALLAN SEGAL
-Where the Sound Matters Most(tm)-
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Author: Bob Phillips
Date: 2011-04-24 16:56
I was just reminiscing with my teacher last week about how I miss the grassy taste of the fresh 25-cent Rico reeds of my youth.
A few years ago, I got into an especially good tasting box of Vandorens and dug out a fresh one to share taste-testing with a friend!
Bob Phillips
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Author: shahn
Date: 2011-04-25 03:01
sonicbang,
Thanks for the reference info. . It's real scary now that I know they use pesticides. . I've got to use as few reeds as possible to maximize health. . Perhaps I should use synthetic reeds. . Oh! no, synthetic reeds are chemically made!!
Now what shall I do? . Can someone invent metallic reeds? . Or electronic reeds that last forever?
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2011-04-25 09:34
> Thanks for the reference info. . It's real scary now that I know they use
> pesticides. . I've got to use as few reeds as possible to maximize health. .
> Perhaps I should use synthetic reeds. . Oh! no, synthetic reeds are
> chemically made!!
Use Selmer Primos or Gonzalez - they're grown pesticide free (so their claim).
--
Ben
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Author: skygardener
Date: 2011-04-25 13:24
From what Bob wrote in that thread, it seems that the cane is sprayed with pesticides as part of the import process, not in the growing stages.
This seems to be more of the US agricultural rules than Rico's "system"- that's what is seems from reading that thread.
Going on that line of thinking, a sealed box of reeds might not be sprayed during import.
All that hypothetical stuff aside, I do find a difference between the taste of different brands of reeds.
Actually, that was an old band joke in my HS, "You have been in band too long when you can tell the different brands of reeds by taste!"
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2011-04-25 15:09
I've been using Rico's for over ten years now and have never noticed anything strange about the taste. It's my belief, no matter what they say, that all manufacture use some sort of pesticide if and when there is an insect problem ruining the cane. Heck, just about everything you buy in the supermarket has had some type of pesticide used on it at one time or other. That's the reason we're living longer and getting bigger and stronger :-). Really though, it's just the world we live in. If it does bother anyone you can take the suggestions about the rum, but Light rum won't color the reed, or soak them for a few seconds in witch hazel, mouthwash or peroxide for a few seconds before you play them. ESP http://eddiesclarinet.com
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2011-04-25 15:26
I've used them since 1993 - almost 20 years
What you would be tasting would be a salt like solution that the cane is soaked in. I was told that a long time ago when I asked. I'm not the expert here in reed construction, so anyone who is, please jump right in. I've seen videos of reed construction from several plants though including the rico process, but it's been too long.
That solution would be long after any (if any, and again, I have no knowlege either way) environmental sprays were used in the fields of France or Argentina.
I would think for sure that it is not toxic at all.
http://www.SkypeClarinetLessons.com
Post Edited (2011-04-25 15:28)
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Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2011-04-26 05:31
You may be tasting pesticides. Rico uses harmful pesticides. I have a lawsuit against Rico. I won the case against the pesticide companies.
Designer of - Vintage 1940 Cicero Mouthpieces and the La Vecchia mouthpieces
Yamaha Artist 2015
Post Edited (2011-04-26 05:37)
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Author: shahn
Date: 2011-04-26 05:36
Another obervation...
After soaking several Rico reeds in distilled water (in a white plastic dish), I found the water color changes to yellowish slightly, and after a day the bottom of the dish is stained (deposited, precipitated.. whatever you may call it) brownish.
I haven't observed the above with Vandoren reeds.
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Author: JJAlbrecht
Date: 2011-04-27 01:05
Taste like chicken to me. ![[tongue]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie6.gif)
Actually,I haven't noticed an objectionable taste to either the Grand Concert or Reserve reeds I have used.
Jeff
“Everyone discovers their own way of destroying themselves, and some people choose the clarinet.” Kalman Opperman, 1919-2010
"A drummer is a musician's best friend."
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Author: William
Date: 2011-04-28 19:10
In another more recent Rico Reserve [complaint] thread, it is alleged that pesticides are used on the cane and at least one of our own who worked at Rico became seriously ill from exposure to the chemicals.
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Author: Barry Vincent
Date: 2011-04-28 23:44
With all this talk about pesticides on cane reeds I'm getting all paranoid here.
Bring on the synthetics.
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2011-04-29 12:47
>>With all this talk about pesticides on cane reeds I'm getting all paranoid here.>>
Me, too.
>>Bring on the synthetics. >>
Well ... what's in the synthetics? If the plastics are the same stuff that's caused controversy in hard plastic water bottles and baby bottles, then I wouldn't want that in my mouth, either.
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
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Author: Barry Vincent
Date: 2011-04-29 23:26
Yes Lelia, you've got a point there. Maybe we all should stop worrying about such things and just get on with enjoying making music.
Who wants to live forever anyway
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2011-05-02 12:52
I don't mean to downplay the danger from possible pesticide residues in reeds. My husband (now a bookbinder) worked for the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency's Pesticides Division for 28 years. He still does pro bono legal work for environmental groups. I told him about this thread. He says any regulations on pesticides may not have specified restrictions for use on something as specialized as woodwind reeds and that ingestion through putting pesticide-contaminated reeds in the mouth would be a worst-case scenario for exposure. He intends to look into the situation.
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
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Author: Beppe
Date: 2011-09-28 10:25
I recognized this taste too in Rico Reserve 2006 reeds. Last night my head broke.
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