Seal a Reed for Maximum Use

This post highlights a simple procedure designed to extend longevity of reeds. My first saxophone teacher showed this to me and it is something that I have adopted as good practice for saving time, money and avoid reed headaches. This is one way to gain a little more control over the consistency of sound a reed can produce. Quality of vibration is what sound production is all about. Best of all, it takes only few minutes.

Every reed has microscopic pores that are the veins of the cane from which it came. To see these pores more clearly dip a new reed completely in water and blow on the butt of the reed and see the bubbles formed on the vamp of the reed. In the image below, the vamp is the part of the reed indicated by the arrow. 

Brand new reeds have these pores wide open which means they absorb all kinds of things like moisture, bacteria and other potentially disgusting things like bits of food, flesh, lip gloss, etc.  Acidic beverages like soda, beer, coffee, juice are the absolute worst. Sealing a reed limits the amount of moisture it can absorb, thus making it less susceptible to deterioration. All it takes is the pressure of your thumb on a moist reed on a flat surface, rubbing down firmly from the file of the reed to the tip. The key here is to apply downward pressure while rubbing upwards to the tip. Repeat this several times. Thumbs may get sore in the process.

Finally, you can check how much of a seal you achieved by once again dipping the reed completely in water and then blowing from the butt of the reed, observing how few bubbles are now forming. Keep in mind it’s rare to completely seal all pores entirely. Doing this procedure along with a simple reed rotation i.e. not playing the same reed everyday, might just save the cost of buying boxes upon boxes of reeds unnecessarily, and gain a truer reed vibration.

Curtis Macdonald
Saxophone, Pro Tools, Ableton, Production