Easy Reed Conditioning Process YOUTUBE vid

[814jazzer]

Hey, Folks

Gather 10 sax players and you'll have 11 different ways to break in and take care of your reeds.
I've tried many of them.
Here's the system I use:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRAKij61y_g


It's easy, straight-forward, and helps my reeds play well and last long. And it's economical.

Anybody else use a similar approach?


warm greetings from Pennsylvania!
~ Rick

(by the way, I also posted this in the "beginners" section of the forum —*sorry for the redundancy!)

 

[TomMapfumo]

Hi There!

I use this method - it is (as far as I can tell) the method outlined on the website for Alexander Superial reeds. Mine last over the 6-9 month period, no problem. Works very well.

Kind regards
Tom

 

[814jazzer]

Cool.
I've never tried an Alexender Superial before - is that what you play?
I've never seem their website either, but I'll have to look!

 

[TomMapfumo]

Hi Rick!

My 3 favourite reeds are:

1. Francois Louis Excellence.
2. Alexander Superial DC's.
3. Marca Jazz.

I played the DC's for a long period on my Alto - lovely sound, slightly dark. Worth investigating IMO. Played all the Rico & Vandoren reeds previously (Rico Jazz Selects & V16's being my favourites) but generally stick with the 3 above - all excellent.

Kind regards
Tom

 

[Der Wikinger]

bizarre.

 

[AlanB]

this doesn't seem to work with my Hahn reeds. ;-)

Great video!
Al

 

[Nick Wyver]

Good grief!

Take reed out of box. Soak it. Play it. Store in vodka.

Works for me.

I've never got the waterlogged thing. My reeds are always vodkalogged.

 

[Der Wikinger]

how many reeds can you play before you can't drive home?

 

[kevgermany]

how many reeds can you play before you can't drive home?

I bet he has to stop playing after a couple of reeds...

 

[Der Wikinger]

tee many martoonies

 

[kiwi simon]

G'day

I've never had much success working on a wet reed. I use a sheet of paper on a flat surface and level out the table of the dry reed on that. Not sure about putting the reed in yer mouth before flattening the tubes off - I think its the acid in saliva that breaks the cells down in the reed, so you'd want to keep that out beforehand eh.

Only other thing would be to rotate between reeds - not use the same one every day. And as Rick says, they do change over time.

Simon

 

[MandyH]

Out of interest, and personal education, what does all this do for the reed?
My sax teacher suggests that with daily playing of a couple of hours, I should have a new reed each week to fortnight. She's never said anything about "conditioning" or other pre-playing routines - just get out of box, wet a bit and put on mouthpiece and play away.
Do I really need to faff around so?

 

[814jazzer]

Do I really need to faff around so?

Only if you want your reeds to last longer than a week or two.

 

[TomMapfumo]

Hi Mandy!

Without going to any great extremes I tend to follow the procedure outlined on the Alexander Superials website for preparing the reed. The process, which only takes a few moments of actual time tends to toughen and compact the reed - for me it sounds better, and easily last for 6 months and more. I also have a container of four reeds on the go, which I rotate daily. It means I buy about 1 box of reeds per year, if that, and always have a decent reed to play if one breaks for whatever reason. I soak a reed in mouthwash for a couple of minutes before playing, and give it a stroke on a flat surface before returning it to the container. Simples!;}

Before doing this my reeds would last between 10-14 days, and got quite soft quite quick. Why not do an experiment and see what you think, unless you're one of these impatient types, which are often drawn to the saxophone!;}

Kind regards
Tom

 

[kiwi simon]

Out of interest, and personal education, what does all this do for the reed?
My sax teacher suggests that with daily playing of a couple of hours, I should have a new reed each week to fortnight. She's never said anything about "conditioning" or other pre-playing routines - just get out of box, wet a bit and put on mouthpiece and play away.
Do I really need to faff around so?

Hi Mandy

It makes the reed last longer (like several months... even a year or more.)
Important point - the vid and us are all yakking on about CANE reeds. If you can afford synthetic reeds, none of this applies! Cane reeds aren't that cheap either, for a little bit of wood. If that's not a problem though and you're happy with your sound, no faffing around required.

Simon

 

[814jazzer]

Hi Mandy

It makes the reed last longer (like several months... even a year or more.)
Important point - the vid and us are all yakking on about CANE reeds. If you can afford synthetic reeds, none of this applies! Cane reeds aren't that cheap either, for a little bit of wood. If that's not a problem though and you're happy with your sound, no faffing around required.

Of course, then you have to live with the TONE of synthetic reeds....

 

[MandyH]

Thanks Tom and Simon for your useful answers.
I'll give it a go on a set of reeds and see how things go.
As for tone, given my playing "ability" I'd be surprised if I notice a difference, but I'm open minded so am willing to be surprised ))

 

[TomMapfumo]

Be surprised.........., be VERY surprised!;}

Kind regards
Tom

 

[MandyH]

Well, I've conditioned 4 reeds as per instructions, and numbered them (well the reed holders), so I can cycle through them. I can't yet decide if they sound spectacularly better, but were certainly easier to play "out of the box" so to speak. I have my 1st exam on Wednesday (grade 4 Jazz sax), so am hoping for great sounds then

 

[TomMapfumo]

Hi Mandy!

I hope the exam goes really well - what pieces are you playing? I did Mr. PC, Jove Hoot and Vignette (with the ABRSM). It will be interesting to see how long the reeds last compared to your non prepared experiences.

Kind regards
Tom