Recently I started (again) keeping a daily "reed log" and found myself wondering if this is a common practice. (I did a search on "reed log" but couldn't find anything.)
For each entry, I record: the ID number of the reed (e.g., FC 2.5g), the type of reed (Fibracell 2.5), the date (1/27), how long I played (2 hrs), the setting (e.g. practice, rehearsal, performance), and a comment ("great reed but a little stuffy at lower end").
I use it mainly to decide when it's time to ditch a reed. For example, if I find I don't like a reed, I can look back and see if I had a problem with it before. If so, then I ditch it. Otherwise, I give it another chance and keep it in the rotation.
I did this before several years ago, but stopped for some reason.
Although the main purpose is to keep track of when a reed may start to wear out, the data is generally useful. For example, I can keep track of how many hours I get from a given type of reed, how many hours a week I'm playing, ratio of practice to performance, etc.
I know I'll be accused of being OCD, but it seems you kind of have to do something like this if you get serious about rotating reeds. Recently I went systematically through a bunch of Fibracells I'd put in my discard box, likely years ago, and found two that were really great! I'm guessing I'd given up on them too soon.
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