Clueless about reed adjustment

[litespeed]

i have some basic questions about reeds and would appreciate the experience of others.

first, when i buy a box of reeds what should the initial preparations/ritual be, i.e. do i soak them first (before testing them) and for how long? is there anything else i should do?

second, once i've sorted through them and identified those that need work, do i adjust them wet or dry?

thanks in advance

[Dave Dolson]

Litespeed: I usually place four or five new reeds in a small saucer filled with water (with the tips in the water and the heels on the rim so they don't float aimlessly and I can sort them later). I make sure the first one is wet, then play it. The rest remain in the water until I reach them. Once played and sorted, I put each reed back in the water and begin the adjustment process.

Invariably, I must shave down the reeds' vamps to make them play better. I use a sharp pocket knife and scrape a little bark off the center of the heart of the reed (be very careful at the edge and the tip or you will ruin the reed).

Once the reeds are playable, I sort them in the order of playability, press-dry each reed on a paper towel, rub the vamps several times with my thumb, place the reeds in a reed-guard (or one of those after-market reed storage boxes), and go back to them days later after they've dried.

Using this method, I can make most reeds in a box play well. DAVE

[Michael Ward]

Soak them for a few minutes , seal the vamp with your thumb nail. play them for a couple of minutes. Let them dry table up for a day, repeat. Store the ones that play well on glass. Adjustments should be done after the reed has had some breaking in and is dry. Larry Teals book has an excellent chapter on adjusting reeds. For myself I don't adjust , most reeds come around for me, those that don't I leave and try later. Rotating a few reeds is a good idea .

[JL]

I think there are numerous ways to go about it. I kind of do what Michael does. Play new reeds for about 10 or 15 minutes, sort them by how well they play, then play them a bit longer the next day and the day after that. At that point, the ones that play really well (usually 1 or 2 out of 5) go into gig rotation and the others get a light sanding on the flat side (bottom). I do this with the reed wet on very fine sandpaper (400 to 600 grit). Place the sandpaper on a flat surface and swipe the reed over it a couple times with a little pressure from your finger. Play and repeat if necessary. This usually brings around those reeds that are a bit too hard. Some reeds won't work well no matter what you do with them, and I don't waste any more time on them. But most reeds work well with this treatment. If you have to sand all your reeds, go down a strenth. If they are mostly too soft, go up notch in hardness. You shouldn't need to work on all of them.

Keep in mind two things: Break in period first, then adjust if necessary. For some reason, I find sanding the back of the reed works best for me. Some, who maybe know more about what they are doing than I, sand the front face of the reed in various ways.

[Lenny]

Dave,
Interesting that you go right for the heart to tame a hard reed. Don't Teal & others say never or only as a last resort to shave the heart?
I usually play with my reeds alot and would always avoid shaving the heart but recently began to try it & that has helped alot with hard reeds.

[Dave Dolson]

Lenny: I have never read Teal's book and I'd never heard any admonition against doing what I do. I know others have read that book and it is generally accepted as one of the best guides to developing saxophone skills. So, those players struggling with their horns and equipment should probably read it.

At this stage in life, I'm not struggling with saxophone, although admittedly, I probably should be a better player than I am.

Admonition or not, that's the way I do reeds - and it works for me. DAVE

[litespeed]

wow, appreciate all the suggestions. i do have teal's book (its excellent by the way) and a key question not addressed in his book was whether or not i should make adjustments wet or dry. from what i'm hearing, i should soak, test, wait, soak again, then test again..only then adjust (when wet).

i don't plan on doing anything fancy in terms of reed adjustment (such as trimming). i did get a thick piece of plate glass (4x6) and some 1000 grain sand paper to do some light sanding along the lines of what JL recommended. i will also try sealing the vamp as suggested. i just got a new box of vandoren 3's (blue box)....will let you know how it goes. it seems as though reed performance is an oft overlooked but crucial element to the setup. thanks!

[jov1988]

from what i'm hearing, i should soak, test, wait, soak again, then test again..only then adjust (when wet).

i don't plan on doing anything fancy in terms of reed adjustment (such as trimming). i did get a thick piece of plate glass (4x6) and some 1000 grain sand paper to do some light sanding along the lines of what JL recommended. i will also try sealing the vamp as suggested. i just got a new box of vandoren 3's (blue box)....will let you know how it goes. it seems as though reed performance is an oft overlooked but crucial element to the setup. thanks!

No. No. No.
You guys have it all wrong. From the way I see it, there are two trypes of reed cats. You got the cats that obsess about every 1/10000000000000 of an inch of there reeds. and theres the horn player who puts the reed on and blows and leaves it on untill they are worn out.
Now Ive been both, and i can honesty say that it doent matter. As long as theres a decent reed and a good even seal between the reed and mouthpiece its all in your head. And what im about to say goes for any equiptment buyingand switching of equiptment. Just find somthing that works for you and stick with it. What works for you might not work for me.
~Sonny

[altosaxguy1]

whats the vamp? i just use 500 grit sandpaper on the flat side works for me i just did it about and hour ago and i got 2 impossinbe ones.

[Merlin]

We've got a new DVD at the store dealing with Adjusting Single Reeds. It's by Toronto Symphony bass clarinetist David Bourque. Dave also played sax in the Canadian Saxophone Quintet for several years. There's tips on working on Legere reeds too.

[Toot Sweet!]

Beware: I paid my $ 15.00 in order to download the video through David Bourque's theperfectreed.ca site on November 14, 2007. Up to now, I didn't get a link to download the file. And there was no reaction from Bourque to several of my e-mail to him ...

[Toot Sweet!]

Today, David Bourque sent me a link and I downloaded the video without a problem. It seems to be very comprehensive and full of important information. As somebody wrote in SOTW, it is very well worth the 15 dollars it costs.

[asaxman]

Buy," The Art of Saxophone Playing" by Larry Teal! It contains an excellent chapter on reeds.

[NitroJoe]

Wow! I just pop one in my mouth while I'm putting the mpc on the neck and the strap on me. Then I put the reed on and play. Maybe I'll try these things some time, but I'm getting along ok like this.

[patseguin]

No. No. No.
You guys have it all wrong. From the way I see it, there are two trypes of reed cats. You got the cats that obsess about every 1/10000000000000 of an inch of there reeds. and theres the horn player who puts the reed on and blows and leaves it on untill they are worn out.
~Sonny

I'm with you man. For as long as I've played, I wet a new reed in my mouth for a bit, slap it on and play it. Bad ones go back in the box for a try another day. I'd rather enjoy my sax playing than spend time doing micro-surgery on the reeds. ;)