JohnGalt
12-28-2005, 12:34 AM
A question about the aging aspect of reed preparation.
Wine, as most know, gets better with age. A bottle of wine if properly stored will continue to improve as time goes by, even will go bad if stored indefinitely.
Scotch on the other hand, gets better with time when aged in casks in which they were originally stored. After the scotch has been bottled, the aging proccess stops. A ten year old bottle of single malt that you bought in 1990 is not a twentyfive year old scotch, but a ten year old scotch you simply have kept for fifteen years.
My question is:
When is this "aging period" significant in the life of a sax reed? Does the "aging" occur between the time the cane is harvested, dried in the sun, up until it is cut into reeds? Is the aging proccess stoppped when the reed is cut from the cane and boxed for distribution? [ Like the scotch analogy ]
Or can it continue to benefit from additional at-home aging? [ Like Wine analogy]
Also, many have intimated that they get better results when they store reeds at home for a few months to a year, and/or open the reeds up and let them sit out a while. I suspect that this is simply the reeds "acclimating" to their new climate, not as significant as actual "aging".
If at-home aging is possible, should it not be standard procedure to open all hermetically sealed reed boxes immediately upon purchase? Someone recently mentioned a cigar humidifier for storage. Shouldn't it be the opposite for as of yet unmoistened reeds? I was thinking more along the lines of an air-tight box filled with dessicants (from vitamin bottles, etc) to absorb excess moisture.
I will also mention that I am just about getting to the end of a several year long experiment, where I have put what I call the "dregs" of each new box of reeds [reeds that don't make the cut after a significant break in/curing procedure] into deep storage for "additional aging", to see if their characteristics change for the better with an aditional year+ of dry aging. My conclusion: No, they dont. They still suck.
Your thoughts please.
Wine, as most know, gets better with age. A bottle of wine if properly stored will continue to improve as time goes by, even will go bad if stored indefinitely.
Scotch on the other hand, gets better with time when aged in casks in which they were originally stored. After the scotch has been bottled, the aging proccess stops. A ten year old bottle of single malt that you bought in 1990 is not a twentyfive year old scotch, but a ten year old scotch you simply have kept for fifteen years.
My question is:
When is this "aging period" significant in the life of a sax reed? Does the "aging" occur between the time the cane is harvested, dried in the sun, up until it is cut into reeds? Is the aging proccess stoppped when the reed is cut from the cane and boxed for distribution? [ Like the scotch analogy ]
Or can it continue to benefit from additional at-home aging? [ Like Wine analogy]
Also, many have intimated that they get better results when they store reeds at home for a few months to a year, and/or open the reeds up and let them sit out a while. I suspect that this is simply the reeds "acclimating" to their new climate, not as significant as actual "aging".
If at-home aging is possible, should it not be standard procedure to open all hermetically sealed reed boxes immediately upon purchase? Someone recently mentioned a cigar humidifier for storage. Shouldn't it be the opposite for as of yet unmoistened reeds? I was thinking more along the lines of an air-tight box filled with dessicants (from vitamin bottles, etc) to absorb excess moisture.
I will also mention that I am just about getting to the end of a several year long experiment, where I have put what I call the "dregs" of each new box of reeds [reeds that don't make the cut after a significant break in/curing procedure] into deep storage for "additional aging", to see if their characteristics change for the better with an aditional year+ of dry aging. My conclusion: No, they dont. They still suck.
Your thoughts please.