In 2022, the year of our 100th anniversary, the BlueStar® reed has replaced our finest handmade reed as the top of the range, it exceeds in acoustic and functional potential. The new BlueStar® voices are a natural result of a new vision in the art of crafting reeds. They are the conclusion of a path of observation, study and improvement by third generation Lorenzo Antonelli. They are not considered handmade; nor a variant, or a restyling. The BlueStar® is a new voice, different from the voices of the past and those of today, because it contains substantial innovations and differences.
Compared to the handmade reed, the BlueStar® reed has specific improvements:
1) Enhanced overall timbre and functional homogeneity resulting from today's most advanced computer measuring software to optimize precision of the tongue shapes. The perfection between tongue and plate has been raised to the highest possible degree.
2) Stability of the final tuning while preserving the important chargepoint.
3) Resistance to fatigue failure, improved by the thermal bluing treatment & minimal pre and post-tuning.
4) Thermal bluing of the tongues also improves the steel in its metallurgical properties, consequently improving the functional characteristics of the reeds (usability, ductility, dynamics, homogeneity).
BlueStar® is a natural evolution of innovation and technology; improving on the best characteristics of the finest handmade reed, resulting in the most refined, dynamically responsive and powerful reed produced today. When joined together with special, precision-modified reed block chambers, the result further optimizes the characteristics of this new voice.