 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: ruben
Date: 2026-09-11 21:52
We all know that reeds change according to the weather: humidity, dryness. Also according to altitude. But what works in one acoustic condition doesn't work in another. The reed that sounds good in the dry acoustics of a rehearsal room is liable not to work in an echoey church. So I imagine this also applies to plastic reeds. They don't change with the weather, but I should think the same reed doesn't sound good in different acoustics. I have but little experience of plastic reeds.
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: lydian
Date: 2026-09-11 23:02
So you use different reeds depending on the room you're playing in? I've never heard of anyone doing that, and I've played in a lot of different bands in different environments. If one room has more reverb than another, you change dynamics, timbre and articulation, not reeds. In your scenario, what do you imagine you would change about your reed in a live room versus a dry room?
Another thing is no matter what the humidity, weather, whatever, the humidity inside your mouth is always 100%. The only thing the weather and environment impacts is possibly your reed storage, preparation and management.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2026-09-11 23:40
I am a plastic reed player. Humidity MOST ASSUREDLY affects ALL reed performance........because humidity affects, (wait for it), the weight of the air. Dry air (in the length of your horn) is heavier than humid air (best represented by dew point, not just raw humidity) because water molecules are lighter and once they replace oxygen and nitrogen molecules, the same volume of air in the horn is lighter.
Here's the tricky part.
To get the same feel of resistance from the lighter air column, we need to use a stiffer reed. NOW, thinking of this backwards, this is why you need lighter strength reeds in the dead of winter.......when the drier air is heaviest.
All that said, there are SOOOOO many factors affect how we play that I would agree that it may be necessary to change reeds for the acoustics in the room. Normally though with plastic reeds a substitution of ligature, or barrel makes more sense to get the right "color" for the room.
...................Paul Aviles
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
