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Reed humidity control

Author: fskelley
Date: 2014-10-24 20:24

OK, a couple of days ago I was yet again pondering my reed choices, so I followed the BBoard sponsor link over there on the right of your page, and AW reeds sounded interesting. But they don't sell directly to consumer (right?) so I followed their links to places to buy. As usual not everybody sells everything, and it took several tries to find a place to order reeds. Which brought me to this page:
http://www.clarinetmouthpiece.com/reeds/

Nice writeup and offer. But as I read Brad Behn's insistence on humidity control and how they do it, I was reminded yet again that I've been ignoring the humidity issue all along, even though many here on BBoard have hammered it over and over, and I've even had private emails telling me it's a big deal.

OK, I can be slow, but eventually I do listen. And I figured it was more important to address humidity than pursue another brand of reed, just yet. So I bought 6 "Boveda 72% RH Mini 8 Gram Humidpak Packets" for about $7, and they showed up yesterday. I put a 2 gallon ziploc around my reed storage rig with 1 packet. And I put another in a smaller ziploc with some previously rejected reeds. So now we will see... miracles of playability?

But even if I have some wonderful play days, I will remain skeptical. The placebo effect is more pronounced in clarinet play than it ever was in medicine. In another week or 2 I will also receive a $1.45 hygrometer from China, which I hope is small enough to fit in my ziplocs with the reeds and humidipaks. And first I'll measure the ambient humidity here in my Orlando FL warm fall A/C'd house. If it's anywhere near 70-75% the game is already up- I was already OK. But if it's low or high, then I'll measure inside the bags, and verify I'm getting near 72% as advertised. If I prove the paks are in fact changing the humidity, I still won't know the humidity changes the reed play, but I guess I'll be satisfied it's worth the effort. Maybe.

Stan in Orlando

EWI 4000S with modifications

Post Edited (2014-10-25 23:38)

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fskelley

2014-10-24 20:24