Page 35 - Bandmasters Review - 2017 June

SINGLE REED MYTHS

by Neal Postma
M
L yths about reeds have been floating around public schools Are you

and universities for decades and continue to linger. This blog will focus
on dispelling those myths and providing information to help you better a teacher?
understand reeds in general.
Growing up as a saxophonist, I was told so many things about single
reeds that turned out to be flat-out wrong.
• The strength of the reed is determined by the thickness. By far
the most common myth! Yes, thicker cane would make a reed more
resistant, but that is not how reeds are cut. All reeds of the same cut/
design have the same thickness; in fact, all specifications on the reed
are exactly the same. We do not know the strength of the reed until JOIN THE D’ADDARIO
the reed is finished. Reed cane is an organic substance, so there are EDUCATION
some variables we cannot control completely. Different cane will have
different density of the pores – if the pores are closer together, the reed COLLECTIVE
will be more resistant and thus a higher strength. So when the reed is
finished, we strap it down, measure how resistant the tip is, and that
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• Reed warping in when the tip gets wavy. While a wavy tip is not
good for the reed, that is not warping. Reed warping is when the reed testing opportunities, a dynamic
table actually becomes concave (this is very slight and not easy to see). profile page and more. Win gear
The outside of the reed dries out faster than the inside, and this makes and other exclusive prizes!
the reed bend inwards. The main problem here is that the reed will
no longer seal to the mouthpiece, and this leads to a whole array of Visit: www.daddario.com/dec
problems including squeaking, losing response, airy sound and so on.
• The harder the reed, the better you are at your instrument. In JOIN TODAY
short, no. When students first start playing, I encourage them to try a
2 or 2.5 strength (sax and clarinet). As they progress, they should go
up in reed strength somewhat. High school students on sax should aim
for 3-3.5, and clarinetists should aim for 3-4. More important is the
relationship between the tip size on the mouthpiece and the strength of
the reed – if you have a more open tipped mouthpiece, you will need
a softer reed and vice versa. Jazz saxophonists tend to play softer reeds
because their tip openings are larger than classical players. European
clarinetists tend to play more open mouthpieces than Americans, and
thus softer reeds. This plays a very important part when shopping for
a new mouthpiece. You might try a new mouthpiece with your current
reed and not like it, but really you might need to change your reed
strength to match it!

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