A few days ago I was given a tube of cane by a friend of mine. He told me that he’d only tell me what type of cane it was after I made a few reeds with it. I made a few reeds with the cane last night. It was from a good tube, very straight and fairly thick walled. The two reeds I made were both on the hard side, but had a good sound and response. I was impressed enough with the results that I gave him a call right away to find out more.
As it turns out that tube was from a batch of cane used by Simeon Bellison….in the 1940s! Simeon Bellison the principle clarinetist of the New York Phil from 1920-1948…and apparently, a reed maker.
There is often a lot of speculation as to whether the age of the reed affects the playing quality. Some players maintain that older is better, while others speculate that cane improves with age until a certain point(let’s say 10 years) and then declines. In my opinion this issue will probably never be settled, there are simply too many variables and subjective preferences to definitively say one way or the other. In this case, the origin of the cane is unknown, so it isn’t possible to compare it to more recent years(if in fact it is still being grown.) Cane from the same region can vary from year to year due to growing conditions. So even when you can directly compare aged and non aged cane from the same region, there may be other factors at play that affect the quality.
Bellison’s cane certainly still makes good sounding reeds. If it was still being sold, I would buy a pound or two to experiment further, but I guess I’ll be sticking with RDG for the time being.
#1 by Ken Lagace on September 10, 2010 - 7:46 am
I have 60+ yr old cane and am playing (in retirement) on a reed made in 1982. I have enough of this cane for 6000+ reeds but as you see, if each reed lasts 30 years, I have more cane than I need. It was purchased from Kal Opperman in the mid sixty’s and I would like someone else to have it before I croak.
#2 by Forest Aten on January 25, 2011 - 10:17 am
http://www.neuranter.fr/neuranter.php?rub=societe
Neuranter bought Glotin six years ago. The Neuranter plantation sits next to the Glotin plantation. Neuranter indicated to me, that the clarinet tube cane they sold, was/is the same Glotin cane. I also asked about the Glotin reed making machines. A. Neuranter told me they were sold and the buyer broke the machines. Neuranter distributes their cane through three US sources. RDG, Forest Music and Nielsen.
I enjoyed your work here….thanks.
#3 by michele zukovsky on March 28, 2011 - 1:02 am
hello ken,
i would be very interested in the opperman cane if you have any to sell,
sincerely,
michele zukovsky
#4 by michele zukovsky on April 23, 2011 - 1:06 am
#5 by michele zukovsky on April 23, 2011 - 1:08 am
hello ken,
i wish to purchase some of your cane if at all possible.
my e-mail is mbz@adelphia.net
thank you,
michele (zukovsky)
#6 by Kathy Crotty on May 15, 2011 - 4:14 pm
Studied with Kal at Hartt in the 80’s. Would like to purchase
Some cane if available. Thanks.