This is kind of weird, but after I play on a reed for like a month, it`ll turn blue on me. on the inside. I`ve talked to other clarinetists I know, none of them have ever had that happen. It happened on the old plastic one I used to play and my new wooden one. I hate having to through reeds so quickly just because of that :T.

It`s just a guesse, but maybe it`s because your mouth isn`t clean or something. Make sure that your mouth is clean before you play!

Did you drink something blue for breakfast or lunch?
What about your toothpaste?

What color are plastic reed to begin with? A girl at band camp has a blue plastic one.

mouth`s clean, I rarely eat or drink andything blue, and my toothpaste is pale-greenish. It`s really weird...

erm, reed isn`t plastic, I meant my old ABS clarinet.

umm... i play sax, but my reed usually turns black. i think it`s from the ink on the label of the reed. could that be it?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ONE TIME AT BANDCAMP!!!!!! Hey u dirty girl Ramos , I always thought it was just the flutists!!!!!!!!! LOL LOL LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This girl I know uses plastic reeds. They dont sound great, but they really do exist...believe me.

Are You using lipstick before you playing. Maybe it changes colour from red to blue during time. Or maybe some reaction is happening between lipstic and the plastic. By the way, the reed is not made of plastic (if they are of Rico brand) but it`s covered in a plastic film. Try using normal reeds as they are better in tone for sure. I only use such reeds on my sax. They have a more velvet sound.

Good luck

Thanks for the suggestions, but:

1- I`m using regular reeds, 2½. I`ve heard of plastic ones before... I really can`t see why you`d wnat to use `em. :T

2- No,I don`t wear lipstick when I play. Or ever.

3- I should hope I`m not doing that with my clarinet, as I`m a guy. Ugh,*shudder*. My fault, using my last name doesn`t really give any suggestion to my sex.

That`s the sickest thing in the world. You must be horrible. Your clarinet hates you. Maybe you should change your read sooner. The blue stuff.. yah thats called
b-a-c-t-e-r-i-a!!What were you doing with a plastic reed anyways? don`t you care about sound quality?
Geez.. some of you people are sure stupid. Brass is the way to go. You only worry about 2 parts of the instrument. Mouth piece and instrument. Then your set. FOR LIFE

I think that woodwind players are more open minded. I don`t care for brass and and dont mind having a 5 piece instrument. I do mind having small minded brass players dissing woodwinds (especially clarients.

luckilly they`re not all like that, the brass players in my personal band are all open :-D

I don`t think it`s bacteria, because my bass clarinet reeds never do that. It`s odd.

After a month and it`s too quick?
You should change your reeds regularly, when they get too old you lose sound quality. The Rico Plasticovers are the ones Brian is talking about. Plastic reeds usually don`t turn blue, if they`re not blue to begin with then they won`t become blue after a while. I think it`s bacteria. Is your mouthpiece clean? Maybe you have some sort of weird mouthpiece that`s blue and the dye rubs off on them ( I kno a sax player with a blue mouthpiece, but his is crystal- maybe yours is plastic or rubber and therefor dyed). I suggest you clean every part of your clarinet, and get a good mouthpiece cleaner and if it still persists change the brand of reeds. I think you should also ask someone you know or know of so you can get them to look at it for you. Maybe your director if he;s a woodwind player or knows that stuff.
Bradley

I`m not sure about that. It might be mold though. I learned the hard way to never just leave ur reed on ur horn after playin. Even with wiping it off sometimes stuff still grows... but on my reed it was black. hmm. I dunno.