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Reeds are one of the most important factors in
developing and achieving a fine tone on any
single or double reed woodwind instrument. I
sometimes tell my students to think of them as
if they were tires on your car. It's the only
contact you have with the road, so it's
important that they work well. It's also
important that they be of good quality and that
they are maintained well and taken care of
properly. It doesn't pay to skimp on the cost,
because as with most things you buy, you get
what you pay for. High quality reeds, and
tires, for that matter, will last longer and
give you better results over time.
The first thing you should know about reeds is
that they are terribly inconsistent. If you buy
a box of ten, you will be lucky if three or four
of them work without adjusting them. If you are
having problems with your sound, the first thing
you should do is try a different reed.
Reeds come in different strengths, graded by
thickness from a 1 (thin) to a 5 (thick). Start
with a one and a half or a two. This strength
of reed is fine for beginners. Some brands also
come in filed and unfiled. The difference
between the two is subtle, so experiment to find
the cut that works best for you. Do not buy
into the common misconception that the harder
strength of reed that you play on, the better
you are. Most players use a medium strength reed
and a medium size mouthpiece.
Michael Brecker uses a #2 or #2 1/2!
If you've heard Michael's playing, you know that
a medium reed works just fine for him. Using a
reed that is too hard will lead to the very bad
habit of biting and your sound will be harsh and
out of control and out of tune. Using a reed
that is too soft will give you a weak tone, poor
intonation and no projection of your sound.
First, soak the entire reed in room temperature
water. An interesting thing to observe at this
point is to pull a reed out of the water and
blow very hard on the butt end of the reed. You
should see tiny bubbles appearing on the vamp
section of the reed. This proves that the
channels run all the way through the reed. So,
if you notice that your reed "warps" at the tip,
this is just the water being absorbed through
these channels at different rates as it soaks in
to the reed. It will flatten out when the reed
is properly soaked. After soaking the reeds
pull them out and shake off the excess water and
place them flat side down on a non-porous, flat
piece of glass or plastic. Try play testing
each one. You will find that they all play
different, some good, some bad. You may
actually grade the reed, "A" for great, "B",
"C", "D" down to "F" for really bad. A pencil
works fine for marking them. Break your reeds
in gradually if possible. Don't over blow them
or practice your altissimo register! I have
found that this helps to prolong their life if
you don't beat them up right away. I would also
recommend that you rotate three or four reeds at
a time, so that you always have two or three
good ones to choose from. When reeds go bad,
it's time to replace them. You will start to
observe signs if the reed is going bad, the reed
just doesn't respond like it should or the
altissimo register just won't pop out like it
usually does, or the general sound of a kazoo
over the whole range, then I switch reeds. Reeds
should last at least 15 to 20 hours of playing,
hopefully more. Anytime you're having some
problem with sound, squeaking etc. switch reeds,
it's the easiest thing to try first.
Some basic tools that you should have are as
follows:
·
A flat piece of glass or plastic to let them
dry.
·
A sharp knife for trimming and balancing the
reeds.
·
Dutch Rush or some 400 grit sandpaper for fine
adjustments.
·
A reed holder to store the reeds that should be
completely airtight.
The basic idea behind adjusting reeds is to take
off material where the reed is too thick and to
balance the reed if one side is thicker than the
other. It gets a lot more involved than that,
but it is a good place to start. You should try
taking a reed that doesn't work well in the
first place, and experiment on it. Start by
thinning the tip a little. Hold the reed up to
the light and see if you can tell if one side
looks thicker or darker than the other. Try
taking material off that side. Play the reed
after every small adjustment, sometimes a very
slight adjustment can make a big difference. You
don't want to take off too much. Don't adjust
the very center of the vamp part of the reed.
This is called the "heart" of the reed, and
should be left alone. See the reed adjustment
chart
here.
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