Stop Wasting Money on Reeds
Buying reeds can be a compulsion. Telling ourselves, we need to go up or down a size. Sometimes we hear about a shiny new brand that will make our sound (insert vague yet desirable saxophone term here). All reeds and reed brands are not created equal. You should shop around and be willing to change and adapt. I would wager a box of Recco Royal’s from 1996 are nothing like a box from 2021, and for the matter buying two boxes next to each other can feel like playing lotto ticket scratch-offs… so why are you buying 5 boxes a year and throwing out half the reeds?
There are different methods people advocate for when it comes to reed buying, playing, and sustaining. Everyone has an opinion or ritual and swears their way is the only way. We all want the perfect reed out of the box, so we don’t need to use our reed geek before each practice session. The reality is, I buy a box of Vandoren Blue Box 3 ½, and those reeds last me ONE YEAR. I’m not worshiping some reed deity, shaving and balancing the table, or clipping the tip as it gets too soft. Over the last 12 years, I have refined a reed-breaking process that lasts roughly two weeks. After that, I rotate my reeds meticulously for each playing session until they are on their deathbed. Let me walk you through it.
1. Test the new reeds.
Like ripping open a pack of Pokémon cards when you were a kid, opening the foil seal of a reed gets addictive. Hold the reed to the light and make sure it isn’t a total lost cause, and giving immediate judgment is a fun party trick, but this article isn’t meant to walk you through what makes a balanced reed or go over the perfect measurements of an ideal rail width. Wet the reed and play it. After a few minutes, you should get a feel for its overall balance. If it feels perfect great, if it feels soft, no big deal; if it feels too hard, take note. Go through this batch of reeds, mark them to indicate the hardness of the reed, and keep them separate from your current reeds. Only play them long enough to get a feel and do not put them through a grinding practice session. Make sure they fully dry before the next step.
2. Temper the reeds.
I am not a dendrologist (tree scientist), and the phrasing I am about to use is not backed by a bio degree or published paper on the tendencies of bamboo cane. If someone has access to such a paper, shoot me an email, I would love to read it. This step is the key to how I get the most life out of a reed. I refer to this step as tempering, and it has two objectives: getting all the reeds to a similar consistency and having the reed play at that consistency for at least an hour of playing.
When dealing with a cane reed, you are working with natural fibers that absorb moisture; they expand and contract while playing them, and because of this, each reed takes on a life of its own. What sounds good one day feels terrible the next, and traveling from one climate to another can lead to unpredictable reactions from the reed. This part of the process is all about developing a consistent reed. Each time you play the reed, you should be playing them long enough to feel the reed “give.” It will be different for each reed, and take time to learn how much stress to put them through, but tempering the reed will get you a consistent reed. The first tempering sessions should start at 5-15 minutes of practice and gradually build to 45–60-minute sessions. This can take anywhere from 3-10 sessions. You will feel the reeds begin to snap into playing condition faster and play with consistency longer. This is because each time you use the reed, the fibers absorb moisture and vibrate against each other. The friction slowly breaks down the reed, altering its playing condition. Give the reed enough time to completely dry out before each session so the fibers get used to this change. Harder reeds will need longer sessions earlier on if you want them to play a bit softer, and more desirable starter reeds will need briefer sessions to keep them consistent. Once you get a feel for this process, you will notice the reeds become indistinguishable… until the fibers wear out and the reed gives you that dead sound everyone dreads.
3. Practice and Rotate
Once your reeds are tempered and you feel them play consistently, you want to rotate and monitor how long you use them. The key to long-lasting reeds is to have enough reeds tempered so that you don’t depend on anyone reed to get you through playing sessions. Overplaying the reeds will lead to the fibers dying faster. It is essential to continue to give them as much time as possible to dry out. Don’t be afraid of a dry, warped reed. When the reed tip looks like a ruffled potato chip, it isn’t the end of the world. Wet it and play the reed, and the warped tip will snap back into playing condition. I find light slap tonguing with a tip helps my warped reeds get back into playing condition faster. Go to my Instagram and listen to any video I have posted. All those reeds are pulled out of my reed case and ready to go. A tempered reed rarely lasts longer than 45 minutes. I notice the fibers break down, and the reed dies out significantly faster if I use tempered reeds for longer sessions. If I get a solid five hours of practice in one day, I will play anywhere from 5-7 reeds.
4. Think Ahead
When you feel reeds beginning to lose their tempered feel and start sounding less consistent during sessions, you should start working on a new set of reeds. It isn’t a perfect science, and there is no telling when a reed will give out. Give yourself as much runway as possible to keep good habits with reed longevity. I find significant seasonal changes lead to reeds dying out faster and add a few more reeds into my reed case when spring turns to summer. If I have a big concert coming up, I will break in a new set of reeds three weeks ahead of time just in case something changes with my current batch. Nothing is worse than being nervous about a reed for a concert.
Practicing daily in a master’s program allowed me to refine this system to give me the confidence to share this process. In two years, I used around 20 reeds for classical playing. I easily played more than 1700 hours of practice in that time. If you don’t trust me, check out Dr. Wally’s YouTube video on the subject. He says a lot of similar things as I do. My system is tedious and takes some time to develop a feel for breaking in reeds, but you won’t burn through cash every year and need to apprentice as a carpenter to manage each reed.
