Seasonal changes ...

[ving]

Wow, once again the seasons are changing here in the Midwest, the dewpoints are all over the map from hour to hour it seems, and my reeds are playing awfully. I am convinced half of the reeds I used to think were just "bad" reeds were playing poorly due to the weather. For me once the weather settles in again and stays constant with the humidity the reeds seem to play better. Right now even dry reeds I pick up and play get water logged and soggy, and consequently stuffy and hard to play, very quickly. I hate it....

[blurdot]

Try getting a little more intimate with your reeds =), here, read through this, maybe it will help: http://www.tibbs-vision.com/tibbs/col.html

[ving]

Thanks for the tip, I actually do some of that--burnishing the reed in particular. Seems to help some, but not a given. I haven't really really gotten into balancing reeds all that much, but I do some on clarinet. I hesitate to make larger adjustments when often when the weather stabilizes the reeds seem to settle down...also, I don't prefer to play on reeds that are really wet either.

[daigle65]

I notice the same thing every year.
I find this helps;
http://forum.saxontheweb.net/showthread.php?t=72926&highlight=Listerine

I did a couple of Alaskan cruise ship gigs and it's like going through that every week !
The reeds will play well in Vancouver but has you move up the coast they progressively get bad.

[ving]

I'm glad its not just me! I did a few Alaksa cruises also, and I remember knocking my head against the wall trying to get reeds to work. The combo of the outside sea air and the dry, recycled air conditioned air inside really made reeds play lousy....

[daigle65]

I wonder if atmospheric pressure could also be a factor........

[SaxyJ]

It just means that it is time for synthetic reeds. ;)

[ving]

I don't know what factor it is really, its been hard to figure out. I have had similar experiences here in the summer when although its very humid inside a cold, air conditioned room the reeds were extraordinarily stuffy--I know that in the bulk of the summer and winter, either humid or very dry I don't have as much trouble--once they settle into how they play in the dry or moist air I have many less problems. Anyhow, right now its depressingly bad...