Reed break-in day 7! At this point, I’m calling it good. I played each of them for seven minutes each today, and I really put them all through their paces, not holding back on any range or dynamics or other techniques. I feel very confident in them all being broken in because 1) they’ve all been behaving very predictably for the past several days, and 2) they are also playing consistently and predictably as I play them (they’re not changing while I play them). At this point, I have utter confidence in using number 3 for a rehearsal and 4 for a performance early next week. The rest are all quite good, too. I may make an adjustment to number 10. Bad reeds these are seldom the result of bad cane but rather bad shape, and I can always adjust the shape. 10 feels like it could use some balancing to me, so I’ll make a post about that later on. In the meantime, I’m very pleased with this batch! Hopefully you gleaned something useful from these posts and can also enjoy predictable reeds!
Reed break-in day 6! The field is starting to emerge, as they say. I played them all for six minutes today, keeping careful track of how they’re all handling. I’m starting to do some altissimo on each reed now - I don’t think I went past B-flat on any of them yet. It’s interesting to see how they’ve changed over the week. Initially, reed 2 seemed like my favorite, but at this point it’s a tad on the soft side. 6 initially seemed a tad hard but is now my favorite. 5 initially seemed very good but now seems slightly hard. 9 and 10 have stayed consistently pretty hard all week, and I’d say the rest are quite good. All goes to show why I never discard any reeds at the onset. I had originally started breaking these in with the idea that I may use one on a concert tonight, but after missing a couple days, they’re only on day 6, and I don’t think they are quite ready yet. Not to worry, though, I have plenty of other great, broken-in reeds to choose from. The second picture is the reed I will use tonight. I know because I’ve kept good track of what I’ve done on it since breaking it in and how it’s been consistently playing. I NEVER want to be in a situation where I am unsure which reed I’ll use for a performance or rehearsal. If I don’t know, it’s on me for poor preparation. I’m feeling good about my reed for tonight and this new batch, which will likely see some performance action next week!
Reed break-in day 5! I’m running out of ideas for pictures to show you (you all know what my soprano reeds look like by now) so I’m throwing in a bonus picture of Mr Meowgi being himself after my grocery run today. Anyway, as you probably guessed, I played all ten reeds for five minutes each today! The process definitely gets a little tedious at this point. That’s 50 minutes of playing just devoted to reed break-in. I’m still being a bit careful with them (no altissimo yet), but I am starting to practice some passages from my repertoire on them at this point. I’m also starting to switch up the order that I play them (10 through 1 instead of the other way around today) so that I can be more sure that I’m treating them all the same. I’m also really paying careful attention to how they’re doing now. If after day 7 I see that they’ve been really consistent for a few days, I’ll feel confident that they’re broken in. If they’re still changing a lot at that point, I’ll extend the break in. We’ll see how they are tomorrow!
Reed break-in day 4! Today I played all ten reeds for (you guessed it!) four minutes each! Those of you following along at home probably noticed that I missed a day yesterday. Life happens. Sometimes I’m asked if it’s possible to double up and get two days worth of break-in in one day. The answer is unfortunately probably not. We need to let the reeds completely dry before playing them again for the process to be effective. In fact, I try not to play reeds that have been broken in for more than one session a day either. They’re a lot more likely to get water logged when we do that. Water logging is when the reed is saturated with moisture, causing the cane to swell and become less responsive and somewhat “mushy” feeling. These reeds feel somewhat dead and often lose some of their ability to play into the altissimo. I’ll note that I know there are folks who actually prefer playing on water-logged reeds - more power to them! But it’s not how I do things. The swelling in the reed is also why I don’t adjust the reed at all before it’s broken in. The reed that is not yet broken in takes on much more water rapidly, and I don’t want to be scraping material from swollen cane. It’s impossible to do that without mucking things up when they’re back to normal dryness in my opinion. More tomorrow for day 5! We’re almost there!
#Reed break-in Day 3! Today I played on all ten reeds for three minutes each. (See a pattern yet?) I’m starting to pay attention to how they are playing (tone, response, articulation, dynamics), and I’m taking a few very general notes on them in a notebook I keep around for reeds (any #Severance fans here?). Reeds 7, 9, and 10 all feel fairly hard/stuffy to me, but I’m still not stressing it at all. Let’s take a minute to talk about warping, which is one of the maladies the break-in process should prevent as some of the pores on the reed start to close off. We’ve all had this happen at one time or another - your reed is very slightly bent and is not making a good seal against the table of the mouthpiece. This happens as a result of uneven drying. Storing reeds in a humidity controlled environment is crucial for preventing this, but I also want air flow all the way around my reed. For this reason, I actually really like keeping them in the case they come with because of the little inserts that let the air flow all the way around them. This is in contrast to keeping them on glass, which doesn’t allow proper air-flow or drying on the table of the reed. If you keep your reeds on glass and have some problems with warping, I’d encourage you to try using the case that your reed comes in (or one of the other commercially available reed cases that allow for good circulation) to see if you have better results! More tomorrow!
Day 2 of the reed break-in process! Today I played on all ten reeds for two minutes each! I started adding tally marks to the cases so I can easily keep track of where they are in the process in case I have to miss a day or forget when I started. Again, I’m taking it easy on them with just some scales and long tones. No altissimo or crazy loud dynamics or harsh articulations yet. Again, I’m also trying not to worry about how they’re feeling just yet. They will still likely change a lot this week. Frankly, a couple are a pain to play for even two minutes, but if I can be patient and go through the whole break-in with them, I can adjust them with confidence later. There’s practically no reason that you shouldn’t get ten reeds that you can at least practice on in each box these days with proper care. It’s cold and dry today, as you can see in the second picture, so I’m popping a humidity pack in my Tupperware with my reeds. I prefer to keep them at about 75% humidity. It’s crucial to keep that humidity level as constant as possible, and I find this method really effective! You can also get reed holders specifically made for this, but I like that I can store a ton of reeds in a Tupperware as opposed to the 8 or so that most reed containers give you. More tomorrow including more discussion about how we can avoid the HORRORS of WARPING! Feel free to hit me up with any questions!
Are your #reeds the scariest part of your Halloween? They shouldn’t be! Follow along this week as I take you through some of my best advice to make sure you’re never in a situation where you are scared about your #saxophone reeds! If you have a patient, consistent break-in procedure and a good, stable storage solution for your reeds, you can eliminate a lot of the stress about how they’ll behave on stage or in the practice room, and they will last longer for you! My reeds go through a 7-10 day break in procedure, and I store them so that they are flat and in a humidity-controlled environment. I typically break in a box at a time and have at least one box of ready-to-play reeds going for all my saxophones at a time. On day 1, I label each reed case with a number and the date, and I play each reed for about one minute. I play through some light scales and long tones. I avoid playing anything too high or loud or anything stressful for the reed like slap tonguing. The goal is to get them acclimated to vibrating and the setting/drying process. DONT wet them for very long at the beginning stage! They are taking on more water at this point and will warp more easily. DONT adjust them at all yet! You will likely be adjusting a water logged reed and will regret it later! DONT throw any reeds away yet or stress too much about how they’re playing. They will likely change a lot during the break-in process. Be patient! Follow along this week for my whole procedure!
It was one of the great honors and privileges of my life to study with the legendary Dr. Eugene Rousseau for four years at the University of Minnesota. I do my best to honor his legacy and impart some of his wisdom to each of my students every day. Hardly a lesson passes without me using one of his trademark catchphrases, such as “One must clear the mouthpiece at every opportunity!” Above all, though, I do my best to teach each student as an individual, with patience and kindness.
On n’arrive jamais!
Pictured: Me playing the Ibert for Dr. Rousseau as a senior in high school, circa 2005
