Author: cjwright
Date: 2010-05-30 17:39
Regarding the original question:
1. Some players like Julie Giacobassi soak their cane for days until the organic material leaches out of the cane. I've heard her state that she believes this "stabilizes" the cane.
2. Other players believe that that organic material is critical to the warmth and subtlety of the tone.
So from my perspective, soaking cane for hours upon hours does leach out this material. This is a fact. It's a matter as to what function it serves in your reed, and if you can scrape reeds without this material in it, or more comfortable scraping reeds with it.
One last thing to consider:
Oversoaking cane saturates it to its full capacity. When you dry it out, there will be warpage, as there always is with cane. The faster you dry it out, the faster it will warp, and I'm not convinced that the full effects of the warpage are reversed by another soak. I notice if I tie up really soaked gouged cane, it tends to warp more on the blank (big openings, loose sides, etc) which don't reverse and translate into good reeds.
If I oversoak gouged cane, or blanks, I won't touch them for several days to make sure they're dry before I scrape.
My two cents. (again.)
Cooper
Blog, An Oboe In Paradise
Solo Oboe, Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra
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