Who has not heard the ages-old complaint: "my cane is no good, it was so much better in the 'old days,' the only people who get great cane are the Europeans, etc."

Maurice Allard, in relating a personal experience of his own in respect to "the best" cane, certainly helped to put to rest part of the "Europe has it all" suspicion. At this summer's Toronto IDRS Annual Meeting, Mr. Allard mentioned that a) some reeds he has called "excellent" when new, only lasted one act of an opera! b) one "magic" reed provided phenomenal service through the Concours at Geneva, a Paris Opéra audition, plus two years' constant performance afterwards! c) that the most beautiful and perfect piece of cane he has ever seen was in the form of a fishing pole used by a cane cutter in the Var-- yet he was refused any from the same source: the reason being --too valuable for musical purposes; it must be used for furniture! Baskets! Important things! (Will Jansen, we are not laughing so hard now about your article "In Quest of Arundo Donax.")

Yet, things aren't really so bad. Beautiful concerts are being performed 24 hours a day around the globe, and reed players are having good to excellent musical response from this historically ancient vibrational source: reed cane.

A few years ago I attended a seminar and clinic on arundo donax (cane) presented to double reed musicians in the Washington, D.C.-Baltimore, Maryland area by Mr. Enzo Prestini of the cane-growing and musical instrument products firm of Prestini (Trento, Italy--cane fields in France). About his own reed cane, Mr. Prestini had these remarks:

• A) About 7% of the total arundo donax crop in France is reserved very carefully for musical purposes.
• B) If a greater percentage of the cane grown were used for the musical trade, they would be using poorer grades of cane.
• C) The total orders per year (large and small) for reed cane for musical purposes is too small to warrant their harvesting of a larger crop.
• D) The best growers who sell cane for reeds know how to properly grow, cut, dry, season and store the cane for the optimum condition and vibrational characteristics.
• E) That he (Mr. Prestini) thinks it unwise to store cane for years before using: "It loses its freshness and ideal moisture balance after about two years," he said (this means two years after purchase, of course).
• F) Individual buyers often become discouraged with given cane sources because they vary so much from year to year (which, like good wines, they must). So he recommends that musicians order from several different sources each year. Cane, especially in tube form, is not that expensive, even with inflation raging.
• G) If you want the better grades of cane from any given dealer, order the cane in partly-finished form (1- gouged, 2- profiled heavy, 3- profiled and shaped, etc.). The reason for this is that partially finished cane must look attractive, and that better grades of cane look better than others; also that the workers who operate the gouging and profiling machines must have orders to process or they will not be paid--so they try to select better-looking pieces to attract repeat orders.

Perhaps many or most players who habitually feel that their cane is "no good" are partly to blame themselves for the manner in which they select pieces to make reeds from, and the procedures used for storing and then using the cane. For example, all IDRS members and many others should be aware of the simple method of maintaining about a 75% humidity environment for cane and stored reeds (see IDRS Journal No. 3, 1975 or The Instrumentalist Magazine for the article by Ronald Orcutt and William Roscoe: "Reed Storage - A Simple Solution"). Additionally, how many reed makers really check the gouge of their cane from end to end (as well as one point down the center line for thickness) and from center to sides?? Gouging inaccuracies can (and should) be adjusted by hand with sandpaper or other tools - - when they are small. Pieces which are far off in regularity should be discarded.

Cane can be measured for resiliency (partly by measuring tube diameter or radius curve on outside of gouged cane), hardness (feel of smooth cut or resistance when gouging, shaping, profiling), uniformity of color in a batch of cane, straightness and closeness of grain, etc. This does not have to become a scientific exercise in fanaticism either. Reed makers should develop a sense of consistent over-all inspection of the cane at each step of its progress from tube form to the finished reed. Good inspection and test habits will increase the percentage of successful reeds for any reed maker.

Following is a list of a few sources for cane. I do not recommend any one source above others. Nor can I verify the accuracy of all addresses, because I do not order from all of these. But perhaps some good information and "happy vibrations" will result for some of my colleagues through the services of one or more of these:

Louis A. Skinner, P.O. Box 97, West Jonesport, Maine 04649(gouged cane, gouged and shaped)

S. Delacroix, 5 Rue des Ecoles, Alfortville 94140 France (cane, all forms)

François Alliaud, Morières-les-Avignon, Vaucluse, France (cane, all forms)

Mme. Marcelle Ghys, Route National 7, 6 Chemin de la Paroquine, Antibes (A et M) France (cane, all forms)

Gerhard Steur, LINDAU am Bodensee, Tobelstrasse 11, Postleitzahl 13C, W. Germany (cane--perhaps gouged and later processing only)

Henri Neuranter, 27. Rue des Bluets, LAGNY 77400 France (excellent reeds for Buffet bassoon, possibly gouged or gouged/profited cane as well)

Prestini, House of TRENTO via Flli Bronzetti 3 Italy (cane, all forms)

Albert Glotin, 15 Rue de Progres, Ezanville (S et O) France (cane, all forms)

Pfeifer Double Reed Accessories, Inc., Tremper Avenue, Phoenicia, New York 12464 (gouged and further processed only)

Don Christlieb, 3311 Scadlock Lane, Sherman Oaks, California 91403 (profited cane, blanks, reeds)

Jones Double Reed Products, 421 N.4th, Cheney, Washington 99004 (profited cane, reeds)

Edmund Nielsen, 14 East Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604 (gouged and further processes only)

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