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Sunday September 16 2007
Greetings double reed players
Just a friendly reminder to all you double reed players out there that this past weekend, the weather has changed drastically up here in the Pacific Northwest. Humidity levels have plummeted, and the temperatures are dropping quickly as well. What does this mean for us? Well, it’s time to adjust your gougers!
When humidity levels drop, the way our cane retains water also changes, and thus, they tend to dry out quicker, become more brittle, and produce smaller openings. When I say “they” I mean the entire blade of each reed; the center, middle; and sides. Particularly the sides!
When our sides get too thin, our upper register sags, and we often go flat up there. We also become more brittle sounding.
This weekend I was filling an order for a man in LA. He ordered 24 pieces of cane from my thickest gouging machine (Opus 1, courtesy of Robin Driscoll). This evening when I went to make a RDG…-2 reed on the gouge to make sure my product was 100% certain, I found that it was 0% certain. I quickly shaped a piece of the Opus 1 on my Weber 1-B (approximate dimensions of a Gilbert 1, i.e. much thinner), and I found it to be about right on the sides, but still too thin in the center! The difference means I probably need to beef up the sides from about .45 to .47 or so, and maintain a center of .60.62 (I use a digital micrometer, which measures slightly thick. Other micrometers would measure .59-.60). So, I’ll be spending tomorrow re-pregouging a bunch of cane to re-gouge, to send out to LA.
If you’re working off a single radius gouge, you’re pretty much stuck, but you could thicken your entire gouge, which will thicken the sides, but also thicken the rest of everything else.
Anyways, just thought I’d give everyone the heads up.
For those ordering cane from me: If you live in a high-humidity climate, please let me know! I have some extra cheap cane I can sell you!
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