Commercial Vs. Handmade
Musicians originally crafted reeds from cane using simple tools, a process which was time-consuming and painstaking. Specialized tools for cutting and trimming reeds by hand reduce the time needed to finish a reed. Today, nearly all players of single-reed instruments buy manufactured reeds, although many players adjust them by shaving or sanding. Some professionals make single reeds from "blanks", but this is time-consuming and can require expensive equipment. Among double reed players, advanced and professional players typically make their own reeds, while beginners and students often buy reeds either from their teachers or from commercial sources.
Read more about this topic: Reed (instrument)
Famous quotes containing the words commercial and/or handmade:
“The cultivation of one set of faculties tends to the disuse of others. The loss of one faculty sharpens others; the blind are sensitive in touch. Has not the extreme cultivation of the commercial faculty permitted others as essential to national life, to be blighted by disease?”
—J. Ellen Foster (1840–1910)
“And those handmade presents that children often bring home from school: They have so much value! The value is that the child put whatever he or she could into making them. The way we parents respond to the giving of such gifts is very important. To the child the gift is really self, and they want so much for their selves to be acceptable, to be loved.”
—Fred Rogers (20th century)