Reeds are an ongoing expense for Woodwind players. Understanding why or why not your reed works is a bit of a black art.
When does a reed work well?
- It matches your mouthpiece lay by being perfectly symmetrical or it is not symmetrical and neither is your mouthpiece-both in the same way. Hold it up to the light and look for symmetry in the thickness by the transparency.
- It is the one good reed in the box (never buy just one reed because it probably isn’t the one in the box that works)
- The cane is aged properly
- You have soaked the reed enough to fill all the pores in the cane with water thus giving the reed strength
- Luck
- You stored it in proper reed holder
When doesn’t a reed work well?
- It is chipped, split or broken
- When it is not symmetrical and your mouth piece is, or if the symmetry of the reed and mouthpiece do not match.
- Your reed is turning black because of mould and mildew (yuck!)
- The cane is not aged properly (cane very white-no variations in color throughout from a cream color to dark brown bits of color)
- Bad luck
- Improper storage of the reed and the tip is curly/wavy and the reed has probably warped
So at the end of the day the only thing you have in your control is proper storage of the reed. We recommend a reed case that holds your reed face down on a piece of plate glass with mild pressure holding the reed in place. The reed will be flat when you next go to play it as it will have adhered to the glass.
The other thing is to make sure that your mouthpiece is of good quality and has not been damaged by sitting in the sun (warped) or dropped (metal mouthpiece) and warped etc.
You can store you reed ‘wet or dry’. If you choose to store the reed wet precautions have to be taken so that the reed doesn’t get mould or mildew. We suggest soaking your reeds occasionally in a very mild bleach solution (safe enough to drink) or Vodka. Either solution will work to keep mould/mildew at bay.
Another school of thought is that soaking/wetting your reed fills all the pours of the reed giving it strength to last longer. This would be an argument for maintaining the wetness of the reed. OR you could dry the reed between uses. In either case a good reed holder with plate glass is important.
See our web-site for reed holders:
Saxophone reed holders
Clarinet reed holders
