 The Clarinet BBoard
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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
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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.
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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
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Author: ruben
Date: 2026-09-12 10:42
Thank you for your insights and information, Paul.
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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Author: lydian
Date: 2026-09-14 20:19
Director to clarinet player, "Why did you stop playing?" Player, "There's a cold front moving through, so the density of the air has changed, therefore I have to change reeds". Director, "Get out of my band".
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2026-09-14 23:19
I agree that that sounds odd if you have not heard or thought about reasons for reeds acting in a manner that is less satisfying. In my years of studying which included seminars on reed making and adjustment.... I NEVER heard anyone address how things change from season to season. That's why the mention of keeping softer reeds around for Winter, at the end of the "Marcellus method" of breaking in reeds, really jumped out at me (I could re-post this video if you like).
The bottom line though is what a friend said to me a couple of years ago while I got started trying to figure out why plastic reeds could be fickle as well. He said, "just put on another reed man." Yes......that works. But my prevailing thought most of my career was that a dry reed becomes less supple (true), and therefore becomes too hard (or brittle, or something like that) to play. Why then is this an issue for plastic?
I had found a university study posted online that spoke rather matter-of-factly about the weight of air with far fewer water molecules in it.....as it pertains to clarinet! Currently I've lost track of it and will continue to attempt digging that one up again. The reed serves as an actuator for the twenty six inch long air column, but as soon as the column begins to vibrate, the reed becomes a "slave" to how easily (or not) the air column vibrates.
For cane players this may only amount to one numbered strength difference down in the Winter (which can be compensated for by....."biting." But it is helpful to have a sense of what is happening and to know that plastic reeds DO NOT prevent the problem with the difference in the reed's performance between the middle of Summer and the dead of Winter.
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Also, to bring things back to the acoustics of the room. I recall that when a group is playing in rather reverberant room (which makes things much LOUDER), the group counterinuitively tends to actually play with more force. I believe that may be in an attempt for individuals to "hear themselves" better. Under those circumstances the reed players of the group would most likely feel a need for a stiffer reed.
.............Paul Aviles
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