It`s a sore lip again

[impulse]

I`ve been over the "sore lip" past posts but I wonder if this is a bit different? I play the three saxes and a clarinet many times a day but not for long periods. 10 mins. on one, maybe an hour later, 10 on another.
I`m finding that the reeds can be rough on my lip, just a surface abrasion type soreness, no teeth cuts. and I`m wondering if the fact that I don`t take the reeds off the mouth pieces but just wetting the lip facing surface is contributing to this. Like are there hard fibres sticking up that a good soaking would have softened.
I`ve been using a very fine emery paper to try and smooth more the reed`s lip/surface. Also the mouthpiece edges tend to turn up little rails on both of the reed`s edges which can be sharp. Again I`ve been trying to remove these with emery paper. Legere reeds are the worst re the sharp edges. Been playing for about 2 yrs.
None of my treatments are that successful.
Russ

 

[Linky Lee]

the mouthpiece is making rails in the reeds?
Sounds like your mouthpieces aren't built well. I'd make sure the tips and rails of the mouthpieces are all equal and flat. If not I'd go get them refaced. You'll notice a huge improvement.

I don't think it's anything to do with how moist the reeds are. sanding them with emery paper will just make them softer to play, or harder if you don't do it evenly.

 

[tengu01]

Impulse wrote:
and I`m wondering if the fact that I don`t take the reeds off the mouth pieces but just wetting the lip facing surface is contributing to this. Like are there hard fibres sticking up that a good soaking would have softened.

Taking the reeds off the mouthpiece when you're done and a good soaking before playing will probably do wonders for your lip/reed relations.

If you keep the reed in one of those little plastic cases they come in, they seem to keep the surface of the reed quite flat, giving less room for renegade fibres.

Good luck

 

[Bobby G]

I've heard, although not experienced it myself, that some mouthpieces are of such a width that the reed can fractionally overhang the rails - could this be the case here? If so, I would think the vibrations of the reed at each side could possibly cause lip soreness, and maybe lead to the formation of 'rails' at the sides.

I've played some reeds that feel quite rough on the cut portion without suffering from sore lips. Even if they feel rough I wouldn't think this is too much of a problem due to the general direction that the fibres lay - it would be unlikely for them to protrude to the point where they'd cause soreness, although I suppose it's possible. However, if you're using a fine emery to smooth the reeds this should cure any possible problem along these lines.

 

[impulse]

Well it seems that the major souce of irritation comes from the sharp edge each side of the reed. If you run a finger nail latterly across a reeds surface I`m surprised you cannot feel a tiny risen edge on each side. I can on all mine apart from the ones that I`ve sanded a little. The reeds do not overhang the rails they look to be about half way across the rail but this must result in a thin edge of the reed vibrating on the rail and hence a tendercy to "roll"up a fraction to create a tiny ridge.

 

[justin_chune]

Reeds can be smoothed without sanding. Lay the reed on a flat surface and using a round pen, or something similar, gently stroke the reed towards the tip. This method crushes the open fibres shut.

I think that you should clean and dry both reed and mouthpiece after every use. Have you considered that you might be allergic to cane? A friend of mine is, and he has to use Plasticovers or Legere reeds.

 

[impulse]

No I don`t think I am allergic to cane and a few wipes with very fine emery occasionally seems to keep the fibres down. The problem as mentioned, seems to be the very sharp edges on reeds. This is very much the case with Legere reeds. New reeds have sharp edges and used reeds seem to acquire little tuned up edges with time. Russ