I was wondering how much use people get out af their clarinet reeds and how they know when to retire them.
I'm thinking in playing hours rather than weeks as I usually have at least 6 on rotation which means only 1-2 hours a week playing time.
What clues do you have for when your reeds are past their useful life? That's assuming no chips of course as that's the easy one.
Maybe I'm just a bit careful with money but I do tend to keep mine quite a while. The trouble is I'm not sure when it's the reed and when it's just a bad day and if I'm not getting the quality of sound I want I mostly asume that it's me that's at fault.

Good question!!! I very nearly posted almost the same one a few days ago.... So it's not down to experience or years playing that makes this easy to answer....

I find it hard to get rid of mine unless they are really really naff. I have some that sound nice on the lower registers but are no good for the altissimo range. I have others that are too hard and I think would be ok with a lot of blowing (and sometimes I just can't be bothered to do this) so if they may have a use I don't throw them (Ask Barry about the box I sent him!! - far too strong and had sat around for years but would I thow them without knowing if they were of any good to someone????? )

Anyway unless mine are chipped or totally too soft I rarely throw them away. And even then I have to physically break the unbroken ones so I can't play them again if I'm not near a bin

So I too would be interested in the responses to this question

Maybe some of us are just more natural horders than others.... I know what I am

Varies sbhoa. I have 8 on rotation. I find that all will have been replaced within 5-6 months or so, however many hours that works out at (I play I guess on average about 10-12 hours a week in various ways, so each reed will only get used once or twice in a given week).



The most common way is that the reed is feeling too soft, and that is particularly noticeable at the top end. However hard you try, the reed will eventually look 'used' (compare a nice new yellow reed with a well used one, and you'll see the difference). When the reed looks 'tired', it's time for a change.



You should be able to get a good deal of use out of most reeds. Of course there'll be occasional ones that 'go' very quickly, but generally a clarinet reed should last well.

I'm sentimentally attached to mine

According to the poll in this thread, 17% of respondents don't throw out old reeds until they've become a public nuisance

And to answer the question, the easier mine get to play, the worse the sound and that's when I start thinking I should retire them off with good pension

That's when it's really tempting to hold onto a 'good' reed for longer than is desirable.

I look for the strongest reed I can handle, without the sound quality being too harsh at the top, and too fluffy at the bottom. 3 Vandoren works best for me. The story I hear an awful lot of the time is ' the harder the reed, the better it is'. Do not believe it...

I have to admit that I never throw a reed out until it's physically damaged... ie chipped!

Of course it depends on your MP and why you're playing. Some MPs are more forgiving than others. If I'm exhausted but want to practise, then I'll use an old reed that will let me play with no effort but would not be suitable for a concert.

In my own case, I suppose that the biggest clue is how easy it is to reach the altissimo register and return quickly to the chalumeau, followed by easiness of tonguing.

Though I do have fond memories of the 'reed to end all reeds' that I kept going even when it was chipped!


Steve

I have 6 in rotation in my main reed case and 5 in my being broken in case.

If a reed gets split or chipped it gets binned. Otherwise if it sounds naff 1 day it'll go back in the case and I'll pull out another. Each gets 3 chances, if after 3 times of coming out it sounds bad it is time for it to go!

On average they stay in the main case for 4-6 months.

I do it by trial and error reli, if i think its not sounding the best, i'll get a new one or a different one out and work it in/just try it. but i probably never throw them out until theyre either chipped or i havent played them in ages

when the sound doesnt sound as full as it should, and when they get really soft and easy to blow
LC

I had a lesson in reed maintenance from a stunning reedsman over this last year. Apart from the "it's only a bit of wood don't get so hung up about it" piece of advice, Oh, and the "don't mess around with fancy reed cases and rotating reeds nonsense - it works best if you leave it on the mouthpiece to set in the right shape for your set-up" piece of advice. Other words of wisdom included "when you think a reed is dead, take it off the mouthpiece (finally), give it a bit of a scrub with some fairy liquid and warm water and it will come back to life"."

I've been following this advice, more or less, for the last 8 months and I really don't have any problems. I use every reed in a box, and after 10 monutes or so of blowing they all sound fine. It's quite a revelation to stop worrying about the reeds and jsut worry about how you're blowing them! It's a lot cheaper too.

Alan Barnes?

He said that to me but I must be more heavy handed at scrubbing than he is because I havnt revived any (just completely finished them off).

I love this philosophy! Especially the 'it's only a bit of wood...' ! I've always stored my fave reeds on the mouthpiece - I don't get as much time to play as I would like and I want to be able to pick up my clarinet and go when I'm ready! I never rotated reeds as a kid and don't recall having problems - perhaps we do just get too hung up on reeds, when we should just relax and play!

Yes

So you just have one reed on the go at a time?
Do you dry it off at all and replace on the mouthpiece or just leave it?
How often do you find that you can give a reed a scrub to revive it before it won't revive any more?

Since I read your original post about this I've done the washing thing but haven't yet got to the point of just leaving the reed on the mouthpiece and only using one at a time.

Some of my students (it usually seems to be the teenage boys) know its time to change reed when its turned black, and other students of mine who play with them in band have asked me to force them to get rid of it because they don't like sitting near it.

The problem I'd find with having only one reed on the go at a time is that if that reed goes (and invariably it'd be half way through a concert), you're then stuck breaking in a new reed.

I'd also personally be very wary of leaving a reed on the mouthpiece for a long time...

That's what I thought.
I wonder where I got it from... ?
I dare say it also depends on how horrified your teacher might be at the idea.

I wonder too!

Even the way I use them, I'm still only using in the region of 16-20ish reeds a year (8 reeds in circulation, all replaced on average by the time 6 months or so have elapsed)...

Yes



Depends if I remember or not - quite often it just stays on, if I remember I take it off, dry it and put it back on (that's Rob Buckland's advice too).



I'm not sure really, once or twice? They do get to the point where they're just not giving me the resistance I need, then I bin them.



Leaving them on the mouthpiece really is key. The reed makes a sound by vibrating and hitting the rails of the mouthpiece. The better it fits your mouthpiece the more efficient that process is.

Only having one reed on the go hasn't really been a problem (although I used to be an advocate of having at least 4 and rotating them). I usually find I can take a new reed out of the box and play it pretty much straight away, but realistically I know when a reed is at the end of its life so I wouldn't play one in that state on a gig.

Each to their own I guess. The emotional freedom of deciding not to get hung up on my reed as well as all the other things I have to worry about with my playing has been liberating for me.

I can relate to that!

I've collected a few MPs over the years and very often I find them with the reed still on. I can honestly say that I've never had a problem with this.

Now I think about it, perhaps the problem is trying to be too organised, because then I can't remember which reed goes with which MP.

The most important thing I do to any reed is rub it on a flat surface to flatten the base (they warp!) and hold it to the light to make sure it's symmetrical.

Steve

For what it's worth, I have always taken the reed off the mouthpiece after playing, dried it and then the instrument and then replaced the reed on the mouthpiece, with the ligature very loosely fastened and the mouthpiece cap on before storing it away. I was taught to do it this way by my first teacher in the early eighties and somehow this has always seemed a better way to store a damp reed than putting it straight back into its plastic sleeve. When I first started playing, reeds were sold in card sleeves rather than plastic ones anyway, so your reed was always safer on the mouthpiece anyway! I would also like to add that I am very meticulous about drying my clari and putting it away properly after playing and I have NEVER had a reed turn black!!

What an interesting thread. It was one of the first questions I asked when I joined this forum, and
still seems to be high on the list of topics that get regularly aired. I for one and happy it does, as every time I read a new thread on the subject, I learn a little more.


Black reeds, on a lighter note

I have four pairs of running shoes, which I rotate on a regular basis. I did one occasion tried to leave them permanently attached, but the head of the household (I know my place) out ranked me and countermanded my decision on hygiene grounds.
They are now popped into the washing machine (much to the relief of the rest of the house ) every couple of weeks, and seemed to run perfectly, and none have ever turned black.

Not a lots of difference really

This was one of the first questions I had for my teacher (on sax, not clarinet, but no difference, I suspect). His reply was that normally he plays his till they break (he only ditched his last one when it had actually split down one side - I saw it!!). He also favours the "take it off, wipe and then replace on MP" approach, and I have to say I find life a lot easier now I have adopted the same method.

As regards the issue of it being risky not having another broken-in reed in case your main reed gives up the ghost in the middle of a performance, I was a bit concerned about this too, so I decided to break in a reed as a spare, but mostly don't play on it - I just take it out now and again to check that it's still playing OK. A bit like checking the spare tyre on the car is still inflated . Then when my current reed dies on me, I'll move to the spare, and break in a new spare. (Hope that makes sense!).

It seems to me that the sax players amongst us are a lot more relaxed about this than us clarinettists! I'm interested to know how many clarinettists store the (wiped) reed on the mouthpiece? I've always done this and never questioned it but I'm getting the impression that most don't!

My daughter was told when she started clarinet never to store the reed on the mouthpiece as the reed case / sleeve thing would hold it flat, but if left on the mouthpiece it would go crinkly at the end. Having said that the same teacher used to leave his "accidentally" on the mouthpiece. She was also told to ru it under the tap to moisten it as saliva to wet it from dry would do something dreadful to it! When it's going to get saliva on it anyway I'm not sure that this made sense, but I suppose a good dunking under the tap would kickstart it for a beginner?

I've had people warning me about the risk of "crinkling" the reed, but it hasn't happened so far. That said, I have noticed my teacher's reed looking pretty wavy at the end, but once warmed up and moistened again, it's always played fine (granted, he's a much better player than me, so maybe he just works around it; but you'd have thought that if this was such a problem, a good player wouldn't want to take the risk).

I've also heard the "moisten with tap water not saliva" thing, but frankly, that sounds daft to me. However, if you follow the "leave it on the MP" approach, you don't end up really sucking the reed to moisten it anyway - you just breath moist air over it to get it started. If I want to soak a reed to break it in, I do that in warm tap-water, but there you're talking about soaking it for 5 mins or more, and who on earth would want to do that in saliva??

I wonder if there's a difference between sax and clarinet mouthpiece/reed set ups ( I know the sax is bigger for a start so maybe more room for air to circulate? Are the reeds generally thicker etc??? ) which makes sax players more inclined to follow the leave it on the mouthpiece philosophy?? I have to admit I really don't feel happy doing that on either of my instruments .... but each must do his/her own thing

This is very simple. When you have been using a reed for a few days it will reach a point of perfection. Just the right amount of pliability, but still nice and sharp and clean edged.

The next day it will split.

I always leave my reed on my clarinet / sax mouthpieces. I've never had a problem and generally manage to play all the reeds in a box of 10. Obviously I wet the reeds before playing though!

Going off on a tangent ...

This may keep them clean and fresh smelling but it rapidly destroys their shock-cushioning ability. That seems rather a shame when it is one of the main reasons for buying expensive running shoes.

You may not feel much difference when you are running, but scientific measurements show it to be true. But if you are not very heavy, have no structural defects in your feet, and run with good style then you might get away with it.

In any case a running shoe is really only good for 500 miles or so even when they aren't put through a washing machine, so if you run a lot you can go through a pair every 3 months or less. They still look like new, but they no longer function properly. If you followed the guidelines strictly the cost per mile of running could be almost as much as the cost per mile of running a small second hand car.

For those of us who are over the age of 35 and can remember buying our reeds in cardboard packaging, rather then the plastic sleeves which they come in now, can anyone enlighten me as to how reeds would have been stored if they were being rotated? I know there are many different types of reed cases available now but surely for those of us who were learning in the 70s, 80s or earlier, these weren't really an option at a beginner level! I remember being bought two Vandoren reeds at a time (a box of ten all at once would have been unthinkable!) and I had to look after them really carefully! They were always dried off and replaced on the mouthpiece, as my teacher instructed...! The other one stayed in its cardboard packet in the bottom of my clarinet case as a spare and even as a child I was always worried it would end up damaged!

Hi Tom
It was just a bit of light harted banter really.
I have been running since I ran for my school at aged 14 progressing from cross country, matathons , mountain marathons, Mega marathons and fell running. I am now heading the other way lol. I now train for about an hour 4 times a week + Karate nights.
I love running this time of year. The colours of autum are fantastic. The down side is starting my morning runs at 7am it will soon be back to running in the dark.
I guess you must be a runner to Tom.
One of those things, you either love it or hate it.