Thursday 8 January 2015

Cold weather blues

Cold weather blues?
Keep calm and humidify.

            It seems everywhere in North America is experiencing cold temperatures this week. The temperature at the dog park this morning in Thunder Bay was a balmy -20 degrees (much better than the real feel of -40 earlier in the week!) and there is no end in sight. This is winter in Thunder Bay. There are lots of things I love about this place, but wind chill never seems to make my top ten.

          
             Some winter’s are worse than others, but January is a challenge here– reed-wise that is. At very low temperatures, there is no moisture in the air and I can feel a reed drying out while it’s still in my mouth and I’m playing! In a reed case, you can find a reed that played perfectly fine one day (at higher temperatures), sadly lacking vibration the next (as the temperature dips to a low of minus whatever) or the opening so warped that it looks like it’s been in an accident. My solution to this problem has been to:
1. find a good gouge – one that keeps a good opening, whether the reed is wet or dry
When I bought my Ross gouge (the one that I am currently using), I found the problem I was having, keeping an opening after the reed has dried out, greatly improved.
2. humidify the room where I make reeds (usually from November til the end of April) and
3. try to keep a consistent humidity while the reed is drying (thereby eliminating the warping problem)


#3 has led me to investigate some kind of storage facility or “reed house” for my reeds. My research started with an article from the Instrumentalist that described a reed house for clarinet reeds involving a container, sponge and salt water (here is a link to the article, which was reprinted in the IDRS journal: http://www.idrs.org/publications/controlled/Journal/JNL3/storage.html) . I’m sure this is considered very “old school” now, because there are clarinet reed humidifiers on the market. But at the time, I gave the reed house as described as try. Unfortunately, I found it too humid – I want the reeds to dry, so as not to start growing mold. So what I use now is simply a Tupperware-type container. I store the reeds in it after I finish with them (so they start out soaked and slowly dry in the container) and even use it to transport reeds to rehearsals or concerts when the temperatures start getting in the minuses.

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