New packaging has been a hot topic in the Vandoren world so I thought I should just take a moment to respond to some of the most common comments we’ve heard. Before I go to the FQC (frequently quoted comments) first let’s take a look at the reasoning. It was back in 2002 when Bernard Van Doren visited the United States and he ran across a dealer who was irate about how much we’d changed our V●12 reeds. “All my customers are returning the reeds,” commented the store owner. “What did you do to them?”
Bernard looked at me and shrugged. “We have not heard this anywhere else in the world.”
We were baffled. We took a tour of the store and saw a lot of great inventory in a very well organized store. We then noticed that all the V●12 reeds were stored on the top of a storage shelf about 18 inches away from the forced air heat vent – and this was November!
We knew then that the storage of the reeds was the problem. No one brought back the reeds and said “hey dealer, you baked my reeds.” They came back to the store and said “what’s Vandoren doing to the reeds?”
At the point Mr. Van Doren made the decision that he had to protect the reeds from various storage issues worldwide.
Now, fast forward to the Flow Pack packaging. The way the Flow Pack packaging works is that the packaging seals the humidity that the wood has accepted while being manufactured. The factory is kept at 45% to 55% humidity so the reed accepts this moisture which in most cases is the optimum level. Nothing additional is added to the reeds. The packaging merely captures the existing moisture that resides in the reed. In most situations when you open this reed it will play at that factory designated humidity.
The trick to this packaging is where you live. If you live in a humid climate like Atlanta in the summer or California or other coastal states you’ll probably have too much moisture in the reed. Just open them all and put them back in the box or leave them out for a day or two so the reed can adjust to your environment. If you live in a dry climate, play the reed right out of the package and then get it in some sort of humidity controlled case to maintain the humidity level. In fact, everyone should have a humidity storage device of some sort so your reeds stay at the humidity level that performs the best for you. We all have our optimum humidity requirements and if you can maintain your reeds in that zone you get many more quality performances out of your reeds.
I’ve now been around to witness four packaging changes with Vandoren and with each one artists complain that the new packaging results in inferior reeds. What I’ve seen both in my playing days and the time I’ve spend witnessing the manufacturing process, is that each packaging change requires the player to reconsider his break-in routine. As I mentioned earlier, opening the new Flow Pack packaging and submitting the reeds to your environment is the best way to begin your new break-in process. From there I urge you to consider some experimentation in your routine to see what works for you. It’s probably a good idea to have some adjusting tools like a resurfacer handy to adjust your reeds as you work on this new break-in system.
The most important part is that we only changed the packaging. There has been no change in the cane or cut. All our production is in the south of France where the growing, cutting and manufacturing of the reeds is under strict control of Bernard Van Doren. It’s the best cane for the best cuts.
Now a couple of frequently quoted comments:
The reeds feel mushier – this is from too much moisture. Most likely, you live in a relatively humid climate and if you follow my earlier suggestion about allowing your reeds to adjust to your environment, you should see an improvement in performance.
This is not an environmentally sensible product – there are certainly more components to this packaging, but almost all are done in a responsible manner. Click here to see our environmental essay on the packaging. It’s pretty amazing that this packaging is more environmentally friendly then the last.
Lastly, keep in mind that this was an international change in packaging. Vandoren reeds come in Flow Pack for everyone from Oskosh to Oslo so try to keep in mind that you’ll have to take control and manage your reeds based on where you live and how your store them.
