An introduction to the biology, chemistry, and physics of woodwind reed material.
Donald Casadonte · The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 1991
In this paper two questions are addressed: (1) What are the material science properties of woodwind reed material (Arundodonax) in musical settings (i.e., finished reeds), and (2) what are the effects of constant use of single reeds on their material and acoustic properties? Using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), the detailed biological ultrastructure of the material has been isolated and investigated. A range of sizes for cell wall dimensions has been studied as an indicator of ‘‘unstability’’ (i.e., reed quality). The three-dimensional cutting pattern in the manufacture of the finished reed produces a characteristic profile for a given reed, which has also been imaged by optical densitometry. These densitometry measurements are utilized to reproduce accurate three-dimensional surface maps of the reed density distribution, which are also correlated with reed quality. These two measurement techniques allow clarinet reed modeling using a finite element program (ANSYS) for study of the calculated forced motion, mode shapes, and resonance frequency against measured values (as, for example, in a video that has been generated of stroboscopically slowed motion of the clarinet reed in the mouth of a player by use of special fiber optic imaging). Three breakdown pathways of the reed material are discussed: (1) biological (bacterial infestation), (2) chemical (hydrolysis or lysing of the reed material over time), and (3) crystallite transitions in the microfibril structure.