Reeds Working on reeds: preparation, maintenance and care

Preparing a reed for playing (summary)​

1. Soak the reed: Place the reed in a cup of water for around 30 seconds to a minute. This will allow the reed to absorb water and make it play more easily.

2. Adjust the reed: After soaking, take the reed out of the water and examine it. Some reeds may be thicker than others or have uneven tips. Use a reed knife or reed clipper to shape the reed to your liking. Make small adjustments at first, as it’s easier to take more off than to add back on.

3. Clean the reed: After adjusting the reed, wipe it down with a cloth or tissue to remove any excess water or debris.

4. Test the reed: Once the reed is adjusted and cleaned, test it on your saxophone. Play various notes and listen for any buzzing or unevenness in the sound. Adjust the reed as needed until it plays smoothly.

5. Store the reed: When you’re finished playing, remove the reed from the mouthpiece and store it in a reed holder or case. This will help keep the reed from drying out or getting damaged.

Remember, reed preparation is a personal preference and may require some trial-and-error to find what works best for you. But following these steps should help you get started on the right path!

Care & Storage​

I find that reeds play best when wet, you can moisten them in your mouth for a while or soak them in a glass of water (some people recommend alcohol such as vodka). If you have the time and patience, it is a good idea to “run in” a new reed by wetting for a few minutes every day for three or four days before playing. If a reed has become warped due to drying out too quickly after playing it may need several minutes soaking, otherwise I prefer to just moisten with saliva.

It is best to store cane reeds on a flat surface, which obviously helps to keep the reed from warping, but it can also be a good idea to actually stop it drying out at all when you are not playing it, as the constant wetting and drying process can shorten the life of the reed. Plus, if it is kept even very slightly moist, then it will always be ready to play when you put it on the mouthpiece – reeds that have totally dried out often crinkle at the tip when remoistened.

The perfect storage method is the ReedJuvinate™ . This system involves a watertight storage container with three reedholders and a sponge which can be kept moist, and so ensuring the reeds never actually dry out.

If you use Listerine (recommended) or low sugar content alcohol such as vodka, then this will also prevent mould or microbes growing on the reed – something that you find often happens if you keep reeds in a glass of water.

The reed holders work perfectly for any reed from sopranino to bass and are ideal for rotating three reeds, and a really neat feature is the magnetic metal strip (see image) so you can easily attach it to a music or microphone stand.

Conditioning a cane reed (aka Preparing or “prepping” a reed)​

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKM9wRIvYmk


It’s unlikely that all the reeds in a box will play well. You can improve the immediate playability of a reed sometimes. If the underside of the reed is not flat, traditionally saxophone players flatten it by (a) taking a piece of fine emery paper, lay it flat on a piece of glass and gently sand the bottom of the reed by moving the reed across the emery paper lengthwise or (b) scraping gently with a razor blade holding the blade almost at right angles across the whole width of the reed and use steady smooth strokes.

Checking again after you have played on it for a while​

After a reed has been played on, the wetness can sometimes cause further slight distortion. Often this can be cured by simply tightening the ligature slightly, but it can also be worth reflattening the bottom of the reed.

You can see how this reed has become concave due to swelling. However, this could be symptom of an uneven mouthpiece table causing water or spit to get under the reed.

Altering the strength of cane reeds​

You can easily make a reed harder or softer yourself.

Making a reed harder​

To make it harder you can clip the end off with a reed trimmer. At a pinch you can try the old fashioned method which is to find a coin with the same curve, hold it against the end of the reed and burn off a little at a time. Trimming a reed may not be ideal as it changes the basic geometry of the reed – the heart becomes closer to the tip so you should not trim off more than about 1/32 of an inch (1.5 mm).

The slightly shaded area represents the thicker bit of reed you would see if you hold it up to the light. The heart is very important.
Imagine taking a bit off the tip, the heart therefore becomes closer to the tip so upsetting the possibly ideal contour as in this picture of a reed that has had too much trimmed, you can see there is very little shaved reed between the heart and tip:

See how the heart is closer to the tip with the clipped reed
There are other problems involved with using a reed clipper to rejuvenate an old reed:

1. The reed gets a built-in bend following the curve of the mouthpiece lay (possibly worse for those of us who leave the reed on the mouthpiece)
2. The composition of cane reeds can deteriorate: the fibres break down due to saliva saturation and constant flexing and vibration of the reed, so even if you have cured the reed of being too soft, it will still not vibrate as well as a younger reed.

A reed clipper in this case is likely to have only a short-term beneficial effect, but with the side effect of compromising the make up of the reed (ie the heart becoming closer to the tip as I said earlier). If this side effect is not as pronounced as the beneficial effect of “hardening” the reed, then you may have a few more minutes or even hours of use from the reed.

Softening Cane Reeds​

First make sure you have given the reed a chance to “settle in” by blowing it for a while.
The traditional method is to use reed rush, fine sand paper or a very sharp blade to gradually remove material from the top of the reed.

You can also use the wonderful all-purpose reed tool, the Reedgeek, (see above) which I highly recommend (watch this space for a review). This comes with some instructions on where and how to remove material.

Remove material from the top, at the sides.
Check first whether the reed appears symmetrical. If not then first remove material from the side which seems heaviest when you look through it at a light source, otherwise you can remove material from both sides equally. Shave the sides (of the top) towards the tip, don’t sand or scrape the middle or heart of the reed unless you are really experienced or if it is very obviously asymmetrical. The heart should be bullet shaped as in the pictures above when you hold it to the light. Do not remove any material from the tip or near the tip.

 

[Rogerb]

If that were so then every reed would seem to be 'stronger' on one side than the other ... and that is not what happens. A 'good' reed sounds pretty much the same from either corner.... although I find it quite difficult to 'blow the corners'!

 

[johnboy]

I know I stir up a hornets nest when I mention reed sanding, but is it wrong to encourage people with embouchure problems, squeeks, various makes of reed and notes not sounding properly, to try reed adjutment? Those of us who have bought the ATG System did so because we had problems with reeds, and we found that it solved those problems! If people try it, and find that it isn't the solution, then what harm has been done?

John.

 

[TomMapfumo]

Too many people smooth over the reed problem.....................................whereas Johnboy smooths through the reed problem. I reckon he should change his user name to "The Sandman". Having sanded my one remaining Gonzalez reed it is now more effective than my swiss army knife, and can cut through araldite.

 

[compound]

Johnboy,
All this talk on reed preparation reminded me of the time when i used the ( Prestini ) method. A box of reed rushes and a reed trimmer, a piece of glass, 5 minutes work, very good results. But got fed up with constantly working on them. So went synthetic and never looked back. Of course the Prestini method is top secret so can't say any more............you understand. ;} Rob P.S. What about Mr Sandman as your signature tune that would be perfect. And i'm serious. Kind regards Rob.

 

[TomMapfumo]

So does anyone use reed rushes any more? I noticed one of the youtube videos on balancing reeds which I found very useful - ("Michele Gingras Express-Speed Reed Balancing") she described seeing the reed as having an equilateral triangle at the tip end and that you were essentially working on the tip areas just outside the triangle. As a reed rush costs about £7 I may well give it a go.

 

[johnboy]

So does anyone use reed rushes any more? I noticed one of the youtube videos on balancing reeds which I found very useful - ("Michele Gingras Express-Speed Reed Balancing") she described seeing the reed as having an equilateral triangle at the tip end and that you were essentially working on the tip areas just outside the triangle. As a reed rush costs about £7 I may well give it a go.

I suppose Johnboy's enthusiasm for adjusting reeds can easily present as evangelical. If JB could do an online video I would find it very helpful.

Hi Tom, just use an emery board, the type ladies use on their fingernails. Do the corners test to see which side is the duller sound and work on that sanding back and forth, starting from about level with the point of the bullet shape. Keep at it until the corner test gives the same volume of sound on both sides. Then work both sides equal amounts, until a run down from low 'A' to 'D' ( blowing gently), plays nicely, and the 'D' is clear. You now have a tuned reed! ALL SANDING TO BE DONE WITH REED IN POSITION ON THE MOUTHPIECE.

John 🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂;}

 

[TomMapfumo]

Ok, so being a person that doesn't mind courting a little controversy every now and again. I thought I would ask. Why? can't people just get a reed out the box and play it. OK, so you wet it a bit first then just play. Before the missiles rain down let me explain my thinking. If you take a plasticover reed as an example you can't soak it and prepare it as so many would advise. It is still just a normal reed just coated.( I am not going to talk about synthetic reeds here as thats another topic). You can't sand them down, you can't press the fibers of the cane down with flat object, finger nail would be a good example I have heard people mention. Even though I have only been learning the sax for 10 months now( time does fly when you're having fun) I have yet to take a bad one out of the box. Is this a subject that only seasoned players have problems with as it does seem to be these that talk about it the most, or is just the fact that they have a more developed tone and can notice subtle changes from reed to reed. Just for info I started out on rico royals 1.5 then jazz select 2s and now use rico royal 2.5's.. Sorry for the long post..

Chris

I'll have a go with your original question! I did just take them out of the box, sucked one for about 30 seconds, and played it on the sax when I started out - Rico Royal 2's then Rico Royal 2.5's. They would last me about 10 days max. I started soaking them in water/mouthwash and put 4 in a reed case, after playing one I would give it a slight rub to remove moisture and return them to the case. I rotated them and then they started to last for about 5/6 months each and had a nicer tone. I've just done that ever since, except soaking them in water massaging them and then playing gently. It is all I do - wary of cutting, sanding and other such things.

I am aware that most of the ones I choose are comfy to play from the start, some seem hard but gradually soften, and the odd one is just hard work. I generally avoid Rico and Vandoren reeds (apart from Jazz Selects) as I worry about quality control in such big operations - so like Marca, Rigotti & Francois Louis, with Alexander reeds just a little behind.

So my answer is: perfectly possible to just play reeds out of the box if you choose carefully and get the strength right. But spittle does damage cane, as does playing them dry, so a bit of prep is helpful and sensible. In the same way I find Oil generally works well in a car engine, and having an oil/fat rich diet prevents lots of aches and pains.

Hope that helps, Chris!

 

[Sweet Dreamer]

I'm a raw neophyte at playing the sax. So my comments are going to be extremely limited in terms of experience. Just the same, I feel an overwhelming desire to convey some of my experiences with reeds and wetness.

I like a fairly wet reed to play. So rather than just wetting it with my mouth, I tend to lay it in a small dish of water. I actually have a small glass "candle holder" that I use just for wetting my reeds before practice. Sometime I do use mouthwash instead of water just for the sake of killing any germs that might be on the read. I typically wash the mouthpiece with mouthwash too.

Anyway, I don't submerse the entire reed. I just place the tip in the water and let the body of the read stick up out of the dish. Water tends to soak up into the reed anyway. This method works for me pretty well. And the tips do straight out very nicely when the reed is wet. Typically I don't need to leave them in the water for very long.

In fact, that's my next point. I actually got distracted and had to leave. I was gone for several hours, my reeds sitting in the water. When I came home I sat down and played using these "waterlogged" reeds. They actually seemed a bit "dead", and not as lively as normal. So I concluded that leaving them in the water too long is actually not good. (mind you I didn't turn this into a repeatable scientific experiment) So this was just from this fleeting experience.

But since that time, I've notice (or possibly imagined in my mind) that if a reed is left in the water for too long it becomes unresponsive. I've also noticed that how long the reed is left in the water seems to affect how it plays. So now I'm careful not to allow my reeds to soak in the water for too long. It's only take a very short time to get them ready to play (less than a minute actually). Although I don't think they start to become "waterlogged" until they've been in the water for quite some time, like possible 15 minutes or more.

In the meantime, I've been careful not to allow my reeds to soak for to long. If I'm playing one reed and I have another on in the water dish, I'll actually take it out and lay it on a paper towel after a few moments, until I'm ready to play it. I do this so that it doesn't become overly saturated with water.

I'm using soft #1.5 Rico Royal reeds.

Whether a read can become "too wet" I really don't know. But from my neophyte experience it seems to me that they can.

I could be totally wrong about this. Like I say, I am a neophyte saxophonist so I might not even know a good playable reed if it was staring me in the tongue.

 

[TomMapfumo]

I'm currently using water/gin combo - 90/10 ratio so no particular taste but not reedy either which I dislike. I find up to 5/10 minutes OK, but if a bit waterlogged I just give a brief rub to remove some of the moisture and make sure the fibres are straight and compacted - about 5 seconds. I'm aware that there is not much unsweetened mouthwash available.

What you say is based on experience and is useful. Just avoid spittle as it does rot your reeds.

 

[Nick Wyver]

Whether a read can become "too wet" I really don't know. But from my neophyte experience it seems to me that they can.

From my 40 years playing I'd say they can't.

 

[kevgermany]

Whether a read can become "too wet" I really don't know. But from my neophyte experience it seems to me that they can.

I think the secret is to get the strength right, so that when they're really wet they work. Which is why Nick's permanently soaked method works... otherwise you start off with a dryish reed, which gradually gets wetter/softer as you play, and then becomes too soft to play well. Reeds this hard are difficult/impossible when they're too dry.

 

[Sweet Dreamer]

I think the secret is to get the strength right, so that when they're really wet they work. Which is why Nick's permanently soaked method works... otherwise you start off with a dryish reed, which gradually gets wetter/softer as you play, and then becomes too soft to play well. Reeds this hard are difficult/impossible when they're too dry.

That could the the explanation right there. In fact, I was actually thinking that this might be a sign that I need to start moving up in reed strength. Maybe harder reeds would never get too soft. I actually started off with #2 reeds when I first bought my sax. Mainly because I simply didn't know any better. I was able to play with them to a point, but I had no real control over them, especially when trying to play softly. So I moved down to the #1.5 and that did help a lot. So I have a whole box of #2 reeds here, I guess it's time to start moving back up in reed strength.

Maybe that is the secret. Get stronger reeds and just store them in water so that they are always naturally a bit "softer" than they would otherwise be if not so wet.

I can imagine where a stronger reed would reach an equilibrium point in saturation and once you find the right reed strength just keeping those reeds constantly saturated would keep them very consistent.

I'll have to think about this some more. I have a whole box of #2 reeds so I can start experimenting with storing some of those in a jar of water and see how that words for starters. Maybe using this method I could even move to a higher strength reed until I find the reed strength that works best with that method. That might be just the ticket.

I never really thought about that. Sounds like something worth trying.

~~~~

Actually if reeds are sensitive to wetness, (and obviously they are since a dry reed is not good to play at all), then getting them "waterlogged" or "saturated" would take them to an 'equilibrium point' where they would always be consistent. So that does make sense in terms of physics.

Yeah, I'll have to experiment with harder reeds that have been totally "waterlogged". That is an interesting idea. I'm glad I stumbled onto this thread, I never would have thought about it this way otherwise.

Now I'm anxious to run out and buy some really hard reeds to experiment with. 🙂))

 

[coachz]

I've been reading and watching videos on reed care and frankly it strikes me as a bunch of snake oil voodoo similar to the high end monster cable wires. The reason I say that is the number of conflicting procedures is astounding. Wet the reed for 5 to 10 mins, submerge it completely, don't submerge it completely, rub the reed with oil, chapstick, cork grease, ear wax, you name it, before soaking, no wait, do it after. Trim the reed with this special process that can even be done blindfolded under a terrorist hood. I mean it's just way too subjective.

So, Is there any science behind all this? Has anyone looked at the reed under a microscope during these processes? And first let me ask, what is the goal for the reed? To be flexible? For the reed to have water inside the little tubes all the way through? Why seal it if we want water in the reed.

Then we start on reed rotations. Are we just trying to let the reed totally dry out?

I'm totally confused as to what the goal is. Thanks for any information about real science and reeds.


So first off can you guys please tell me what the goals of the reed are ? What are the properites of a good reed while it's being played?

 

[kevgermany]

The reed's going to get wet as you play it. Net result is that dry reeds either don't play well - or if they do, they stop working when they're wet. So when you have a reed that plays well wet (which is shat you want) you need to wet it first. Doesn't really matter how you do it, many of us just wet it in our mouths first. But others say saliva damages the reed. Well it's going to get saliva on it when it's in your mouth being played so.... Others keep theirs in mouthwash or whisky or vodka...

Reeds do need to be broken in, and can get a little tired if you play them too long in one session. So you need a few good ones on the go at the same time - hence the rotation. and when one packs up, you're still left with the other broken in ones. Reeds can dry out between playing without bad effects. But some people think they shouldn't so spend money on cases that keep the reeds moist. My view on this is that it only speeds up the process of putting the reed on the mouthpiece.

Don't worry about trimming for now. Just learn to play and learn what you want from a reed, then think about the trimming/adjusting. Something like Rico Royal, Vandoren blue should mostly play out of the box once moist.

 

[coachz]

That's great info. Thanks. Now what about "sealing" the pores with grease, oils etc, sanding them down to seal the pores or using your thumbnail. What's that all about. Do we not want the pores open ?

 

[kevgermany]

That's great info. Thanks. Now what about "sealing" the pores with grease, oils etc, sanding them down to seal the pores or using your thumbnail. What's that all about. Do we not want the pores open ?

Some do, many/most don't. Especially the grease. I tried, not with grease, didn't seem to make any difference, so I stopped. I'm sure some people think it helps, so it probably does help them. I've no wish to wreck a reed messing around with grease.

If you really want to know a lot about reed preparation, try Ray Reed's book on reed preparation:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Saxophone...3057/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1332875185&sr=8-1

 

[Taz]

Ok, here's my take on the whole reed preparation bit. Now, this can get a little complicated, so I'll take it slow. ;}
Open a box of reeds and remove one.
Remove the reed from the protective plastic guard.
Place the tip of said reed in the mouth and moisten thoroughly with the tongue.
Place the now moist reed on the mouthpiece and hold in place with a ligature.
Play the sax.
Leave the reed attached to the mouthpiece.
When you next play the sax simply lick the reed a few times to moisten.
Change reed when you can no longer play the sax, or you can no longer get your usual tone. I find this is normally every two to three months.

Now stop worrying or over complicating things and enjoy your sax.

 

[Jazzaferri]

I am a little more fussy on my reeds but perhaps that is in part due to playing with a loose embouchure ( see Dave Leibman's Developing a Personal Sax Sound) and I really notice when reeds aren't quite right.

I wet em in water for 10 minutes and play it for 5 - 10 min first day. Put away to dry after dipping in h2o. Over next few days repeat but longer playing periods. At some point in that process I end up with a clear understanding of what I want to adjust on the reed and a few minutes work and I am done.

I will stick a reed in my mouth to moisten it if water not convenient. Only reason I prefer water is digestive enzymes in saliva break down a reed a little quicker. Wipe it at end of session or day and stick it in a holder that allows it to dry flat.

I don't worry about the odd overnight on a mpce. Often t,hey seem to dry with a bit of curve on mpce but a good wetting and dry in holder seems to work fine.

Itsmy opinion that the looser the embouchure the more critical reed tuning becomes but that may just be me. I don't think it is necessary to obsess over reeds but I suspect it's rather fun to do so.

Sealing the pores slows down moisture absorption which is not too much of an issue for beginners as the embouchure tends to tire before the reed gets saturated.

 

[muzza]

I have found rotating 4 reeds works for me and I go one step further grading reed as an A or B.

Do not know if the drying out and letting reeds rest help in anyway, but found having a couple of reed on the go helps solve another couple of problems;
- When I started, it took a little while to learn how to look after my reeds and I damaged a few before they wore out. If this happened and I needed a nice playing reed, I had one available.
- In a box, there are great sounding reed and other not so good, again when you need to sound nice, you can pick a trusted reed, leaving the cursing of the bad ones when practising alone.
- Reeds wear out and it can take a couple of plays to get your sound back, when you jump to a new reed. I think rotation, having different age reeds on the go, helps here a little.

Hope that is of some use.

 

[johnboy]

The problem with reeds, is the variation of fiber density within the reed, which is uncontrollable at manufacture. When we sand or scrape the reed we are compensating for this variation. A simple test to prove if the reed we are using is OK, is the corner to corner test, where you play a note from one corner of the m'piece and then from the other, noting any difference in ease of play/volume. The side relating to the stuffiest sound, is the side to work on, until the sound from both corners is the same. Any further work is then carried out on the sides equally, until the reed plays easily to your satisfaction.

John 🙂;}