Appologies, long post. Please bear with it.



I've stolen this quote from the Reeds thread started by david 123.

And This from the declining quality of reeds thread:




I have also read this: http://www.clarinet-now.com/clarinet-reed-adjustment.html

Which outlines ways in which to maximise playability and 1 way of rotating reeds.

I have never really rotated reeds up until recently and I can see the benefits. Having tried the above system I found i couldn't really work it as I don't play my clarinet every day so tried to adapt it so that at long band sessions I started with a different reed each week. Then swapped to my favoured reed after I felt the first was a little broken in. The problem was that even after numbering the reeds I'd forget which I'd played last or I'd play one for a short practice session and then another for a significantly longer one so they didn't all get even wear. Then of course there's always a desire for the best sound possible so if I felt I wasn't getting it with a particular reed after a 5-10 minute play I'd give up on it.

Consequently my better reeds were played to death and the others got more or less ignored.

Last week at band I had a real "bad reed day". I went through most of my reed stock (which was getting low anyway) as my favourites were rather worn out and there are a couple in my collection that i just cannot get on with (2 Vandoren V12s in 3.5 strength - hard to blow and seem to produce a somewhat muted/muffled sound - not a sound quality I like at all ) Anyway, I physically broke about 3 reeds in half to stop me playing them again, leaving the 2 V12s (which I don't think I'll actually play but can't bring myself to throw out just yet), a rather worn vandoren traditional no 3 reed, a very soft RICO 2.5 reed (that really needs throwing out too) and a new Vandoren traditional no.3 reed. Luckily it played quite well straight from the packet

Now I've just received a new pack of reeds (Vandoren rue lepic 56 strangth 3 - my favoured reed) through the post and want to avoid a repeat of last week's situation if at all possible. So does anyone have a nice straighforward rotation system that I could adopt? Also does soaking the reeds first and allowing them to dry totatlly before playing in extend playing life of not (suggested to me by a fellow clarinettist in a music shop)?

So in short, What, if any, sytem of rotation do you use and what reed preparation, if any, do you do?

Finally, Is a special reed box essential? I currently just keep mine in the plastic cases they come in.

Thanks
Dawn

I empty them all out of the box into my case, then just pick a reed at random each time. I don't quite know how rotated they end up.

As for preparation, I suck them whilst putting my clarinet together.


Same here.

A word of warning regarding reed cases. Reeds Australia reeds come in the same sort of plastic case as felt-tip pens, so there isn't the air movement around them after you've finished playing. Consequently you MUST let them dry out before putting them back in these cases or they go mouldy.

After losing a couple of reeds this way, I transferred the remaining ones into some old Vandoren cases.

I have eight strength 3 Vandorens, all numbered 1-8, which I rotate. If one reed goes, I replace it with an identical one, with the old reed's number.

I also have one 2.5 and one 3.5 Vandoren just in case the occasion/atmosphere calls for a slightly softer/harder reed.

I don't have a special reed box : they live in an old style Vandoren blue box, which I much prefer to the new boxes.

I usually have four reeds of any particular brand and strength that I'm using in rotation at any one time.
Sometimes I'll be using two brands at once, one file cut, one unfiled for the different response.

When I buy reeds new I soak them initially for 10 minutes and the dry them overnight on glass. I then play each read daily for just 10 minutes or so for the first week and try to avoid anything too FF.

Day to day I always soak reeds in a glass in cooled boiled water rather than by moistening in my mouth.

I always have a Legere reed handy too

I've only been playings sax since last October but I used the same basic routine with my reeds when I was playing clarinet and oboe also. (I usually just rotated with 3 double reeds at once due to the cost).

I find that reed/ligature fiddling is a popular displacement activity during rehearsals amongst woodwind players.

I have a reed box which has numbered spaces.
I usually have 6 on the go at a time and use a different one each day by remembering which one I'm up to.
When one dies I usually move the others up to fill the gap and put the new one in space 6.

My oboe teacher has a box of about 20 on the go with a little index card on which she has a shorthand system describing the characteristics of each one.

My previous teacher would occassionally spend a morning gouging and shaping, ending up with a huge plastic bag full of cane ready for tying on. They then went in a huge double sided reed case (about 50-60). I quizzed her on whether she had to make so many because a large number would be thrown out immediately as unusable. It appeared she NEVER made a reed which was unusable, but judging by the frequency with which she would blow through a reed, tut loudly and break it in two, some didn't appear to have a very long life

With oboe reeds, I have definitely been told not to put them back in the plastic tubes they (sometimes) come in, but use a proper (ventilated) reed case.

I prefer to use a case that keeps the reeds on a glass plate rather than in the little plastic cases. At least for bass reeds I don't seem to get so many that get a horribly wobbly tip. As a terminally clumsy sort of sole I don't break as many on the case putting them back into the fiddly Vandoren things.......main cause of reed death usually at the end of a long rehearsal or concert when dashing away.

Final and probably biggest reasons I use the cases I do.....I'm a sucker for the feel and look of a nice wooden box. I also am utterly untidy and scatter my belongings all over rehearsal rooms at least I know which reed cases are mine.

I had one of those but the glass broke. It wasn't dropped or anything, it just broke in two.
Wasn't inclined to pay out for another after that so got a cheaper one.

Thanks for your input so far.

Would you say there's a minimum number of reeds to have in rotation and why?

Bear in mind here that I do not play every day and at the moment I honestly do not always play between one band rehearsal and the next (regrettfully). Hoping to change that soon with the addition of some more lessons and the associated practice. Plus need a new influx of music!!! To challenge me and to enjoy.

What about the suggestions of only playing for 15 mins max on a new reed? How many repeats of 15 mins would you do before playing for the full session on it?

Please explain why this is useful, if indeed it is.

Try to imagine the reed all around you. It's dead. Long strand of lignin - or whatever those strands of cellulose and polysaccharides are called these days. It vibrates and moves up and down very fast. The chains move apart. At the same time they have to adapt to varying humidity levels. If you read the posts at www.woodwind.org, you'll see that problems with reeds and instruments occur most in places where the temperature and humidity vary the most.

Basically you're just getting a dead piece of wood used to moving very fast... as gently as possible. A bit like making a wooden chair in your woodwork class. You don't want an overweight bloke to plonk themselves down on it immediately, do you? The glue, screws and nails may give way. Get it 'broken in'.

I personally never worry about breaking in reeds. After adjusting them, I play them and that's that.

However, I'm sure that a professional will take this process far more seriously than me and quite rightly so!


Steve