We developed G-REEDS from scratch, without any kind of reverse engineering, nor by using existing products as a reference. After many tests we found a material which fulfills all of the requirements we defined at the beginning. We created a mathematical model which allows us to estimate the reed tone (brightness/darkness) for a given material’s physical properties. Based on that information we developed a geometry which generates the desired tone.
For the entire development process we used GNU Linux and open source software. This was for philosophical reasons; and also due the high quality of the available software tools, sometimes surpassing expensive commercial tools.
We received valuable help about using polymers from the Department of Plastics of the INTI (National Institute of Industrial Technology, Argentina).
With the technical information we obtained during the research process and the conclusions of the early development stages, we developed a Python application for calculating and generating every reed geometry. This software allows us to modify key parameters and to get reeds with the desired tone and response properties, or to create new models quickly.