Author: John Peacock
Date: 2022-04-14 23:37
My vote is for a long timescale. A reed may be playable relatively soon, after say a week of short amounts of playing most days. But even then, it won't be capable of doing a long concert: when they're too young, reeds tend to get waterlogged after a short while. You can tell when a reed is approaching maturity through the "fizz test". When you suck on a new reed, you get a fizzing sensation on your tongue via air coming through the tiny tubes in the reed and bubbling on your tongue. But eventually this ceases as grease from lips and fingers close those pores up. I find this process of sealing up is what's needed to give a reed stability and the ability to last a concert. Once it reaches that happy state, typically after about a month, then I deem it fit for performance. Assuming it sounded good at the outset, I then add it to a working pool of 8-10 reeds. I don't cycle through these in a regular pattern, as the ones that are working best change every time - affected by humidity, atmospheric pressure, hall acoustic. But most good ones (i.e. the 2 in a box that aren't junk) seem to get their turn eventually. I find the ones I am performing on and happiest with are typically 6 months old, and a few can still be competitive at a year. Obviously, it depends how much you are playing. I am an amateur who does maybe 15 concerts a year, and practice maybe 4-5 hours a week when there are no rehersals on.
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The Clarinet BBoard
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