Sourcing straw with characteristics that match the fragments in museums, found in the reed seats of doublepipes buried in Egypt, presents difficulties because domesticated grains differ from their wild ancestors. The botanical identity of auletikos kalamos is problematic because the strongest candidate, Phragmites australis, exhibits genetic, morphological, and cytological variation that defies taxonomic boundaries (Lambertini et al., 2012). The biggest issue facing aulos reed-makers, however, is cognitive: the most intelligent and experienced reed makers are capable of believing something is true that isn’t, and vice versa. To advance on all three fronts, Lotos Lab has started logging data more systematically, harnessing new technology to make reed research cost-effective, longitudinal, and distributed. In order for aulos players to log observations throughout the lifetime of their reeds, we needed IDs to be unique, legible, and indelible.  We found permanent ink wears off, so used a laser engraver to burn IDs onto twenty-eight Theophrastian yokes (twenty-three in Phragmites, four in Avena, and one in Arundo) and thirty singletons (twenty-one in Phragmites, eight in Avena, and one in Arundo): a total of eighty-five reeds for ancient pipes of every kind (https://photos.app.goo.gl/BKv4FhJXvSXLnDs7A ). An open catalogue records the location and date the reed material was harvested; any notes on curing, manufacturing, and parenting; and for Phragmites, the internodal section it was made from, a detail we also record in the colour of the waist binding. We are developing an interface that enables players to log observations and interventions, so that a multi-perspective, community-driven dataset can grow, following any reed’s life from harvest to grave. Our mission is to bring the power of open, cumulative science to doublepipe reed-making, overcoming the problems of small sample size and investigator bias, advancing knowledge collectively. This presentation gives a progress report and invites discussion on how the Lotos Lab data-logging system may be refined.