press reed w/ thumb to soften it?

[Lenny]

Someone told me to soften a hard reed by pressing the tip with my thumbagainst the mouthpiece (while its in the lig) thus bending it a bit & kind of breaking it in. Said he heard this from Joe Henderson ( maybe 2nd- 4th hand).
Is this a good idea or does it shorten the life & resilience of the reed?

[DaveR]

I find that this tip works well as long as I don't overdo it. If I go too far (too many presses or too much pressure) the reed closes onto the facing and cuts off it's resonance. Otherwise, it's a good idea for starting the break-in process and has saved me time with reeds that are actually slightly too soft.

I originally heard about this from Tom Alexander of Alexander Reeds; he got it from Henderson.

Best
DaveR

[Lenny]

No kidding he really got it from Joe Henderson. I assumed that was just an urban myth.

[Lenny]

How does it help with reeds that are too soft?

[awholley]

It definitely can help with new reeds when you need to accelerate the break in process. (i.e. You need it to play well now and not later.)

[DaveR]

How does it help with reeds that are too soft?

Sorry, you misunderstand me, or perhaps I was not clear. What I mean is that by closing the reed down slightly with this technique, I can better judge if a reed is going to too soft by the time it is actually blown in.