I know that synthetic reeds are used in making some woodwind instruments like oboe and bassoon, but what plants are the source for the natural reeds? Is there a difference in sound quality between synthetic and natural reeds? Can the plants be grown in the Pacific Northwest?
There is an article entitled “Wind driven: A bassoonist nurtures reeds from rhizome to riff,” by Diana K. Colvin, published July 21, 2005 in The Oregonian. Oregon Symphony bassoonist Mark Eubanks grows Arundo donax in the Portland area. He says that the plants grow best in areas where the temperature does not drop below 10 degrees. They are also sensitive to drying winds and ground freezes. They perform well in areas where grapevines would thrive. His reed-making business, Arundo Reeds and Cane (now archived), has since been sold, but the company website offers a history of how Eubanks started it.
Another musician in New Jersey, Lawrence J. Stewart, has also made reeds from the plant. Musicians’ opinions on the sound quality of natural vs. synthetic reeds may differ but, in his experience, the sound seemed “very resilient and vibrant.” Unlike synthetic materials, the structure and therefore the sound of the reeds made from plants can vary widely. An article [“Anatomical characteristics affecting the musical performance of clarinet reeds made from Arundo donax L. (Gramineae)”] from Annals of Botany, vol. 81, Issue 1, found that “good musical performance was associated with reeds with a high proportion of vascular bundles with continuous fibre rings, and bundles with a high proportion of fibre and a low proportion of xylem and phloem. Significant differences in these anatomical characteristics were also found between reeds originating from cultivated plantation plants when compared to reeds produced from agricultural windbreak plants.”
This plant has been used for woodwind reeds for quite some time. According to “Arundo donax: Source of musical reeds and industrial cellulose” by Robert Perdue Jr. (Economic Botany, Vol. 12, No. 4, pp. 368-404), it may have been used in making flutes shortly after the late Stone Age.
The invasiveness of Arundo donax is essential to take into consideration. It is on Washington State Noxious Weed Control Board’s quarantine list. It is also considered invasive in many other parts of the country, including California. If you can salvage reeds that are being removed from a natural area and put them to musical use, so much the better. But I cannot recommend cultivating a stand of Arundo donax for any purpose.