Hello, fellow saxmasters.
I'm an intermediate-level player looking for tips on how to mark, organize and rotate my reeds. I figure, "Who best to ask, but the pros?"
I've never really had a system, other than to just keep three or four reeds in each case, and the rest at home, in a drawer somewhere, all mixed up by size and strength and use. This disorganization is finally catching up with me, as I got to a gig last week, and realized that I had organized all of my reeds except for the one instrument that I was to play! I ended up using a reed that I had not even tested!
Perhaps you would be so kind as to offer a brief explanation of your own method, so that I can pick up some good ideas about how to improve my own? If you thinkg that by uploading a photo it would make it easier for me to visualize and preclude the need for explanation, by all means, feel free.
First, allow me to explain my situation, just to show you where my weak points are:
First of all, I play only soprano, alto, and tenor, so I don't need to organize reeds for any other instrument, but I do need separation for the three.
Last month, I separated all reeds by instrument, so now I have three little "storage boxes" for the reeds for each instrument, one box for each, and coincidentally each storage box is of a different color. Each storage box stays at home in storage, at all times, while about four loose reeds go with me in my instrument case.
Inside each little storage box, I have two or three boxes of ten new reeds, fresh off the music store shelf, of different makes and strengths. I also have lots of loose reeds in the storage boxes, but each one has its own plastic or paper protective sleeve, or else is kept in Rico Reed-Guards. (I am finding that tenor-size works for all three instruments, and helps keep the tip of the reed farther back from the edge than the smaller Reed Guards).
As for these random, loose reeds in these storage boxes, I tried some of them only once or twice, years ago, while I played some of the others continuously for six months in a row, years ago, but I don't really know which is which anymore, unless I just judge by the color and other signs of deterioration, on the reed itself, but even that is not a consistent sign.
Moreover, as I was using Fibracell fiberglas reeds for many years, and, as they cost about $12 each, it was hard to throw them away, even after they went bad. I am just now switching back to cane, so I am in a process of "testing" different makes and strengths, so I feel the need to keep two or three different makes or strengths of cane reeds in my saxophone case at all times, in order to continue comparing and testing.
To my surprise I have found that a No.2 reed works best on my alto and soprano, but a 3 or 3.5 on my tenor, even when using the same make and model of mouthpiece on all three horns. This difference only adds to the confusion as I try to remember which reeds I was using last, on any given instrument, and which strength worked best at the time. The idea occurred to me of keeping a pocket-sized notebook inside each instrument case, with an updated page describing my latest set-up issues for that instrument, and preferences, but I have not tried doing that just yet.
As for being able to quickly identify any of the reeds that I keep within my instrument case at all times, when using the Reed-Guard I cannot really tell at a glance, what strength the reed is, unless I pull it out and flip it over to check, and then put it back. Moreover, some of the factory markings are so faint that I can hardly even read the strength number anyway, in a dimly-lit room. I am tempted to mark the strength on the round upper side of the reed, instead, with a bold black marker, rather than glance at the playing side, each time.
Long ago, for about three years, I used to write the date of "first use" on the top of each reed, in an attempt to start some kind of rotation system, but it did not work; when I ended up using a different reed temporarily for a few months, for example, and then maybe a different brand of another reed for a few months, I would inadvertently forget whether the date that I had written on the first reed meant that I had used it a lot since that date, or whether it meant that I had merely tested it a few times since that date. Consequently, it did not help me to determine the age, in the end.
I had thought about making one little mark on the top of the reed, with every use, in the same way that a fighter pilot marks on the side of his plane how many enemy planes he has shot down so far, but it seems that I would soon run out of space with this method, so I have never really tried it.
In short, these are my four questions:
(1) I haven't the slightest idea how you pros "rotate" reeds, but I would certainly like to know.
(2) Any suggestions regarding how to mark individual reeds will be greatly appreciated.
(3) Any ideas on how to improve the organization of my reed collection in general, will be well received, as well.
(4) Any other flaws with my system that I may not even aware of, feel free to point them out.
Sincerely grateful,
Erik
I'm an intermediate-level player looking for tips on how to mark, organize and rotate my reeds. I figure, "Who best to ask, but the pros?"
I've never really had a system, other than to just keep three or four reeds in each case, and the rest at home, in a drawer somewhere, all mixed up by size and strength and use. This disorganization is finally catching up with me, as I got to a gig last week, and realized that I had organized all of my reeds except for the one instrument that I was to play! I ended up using a reed that I had not even tested!
Perhaps you would be so kind as to offer a brief explanation of your own method, so that I can pick up some good ideas about how to improve my own? If you thinkg that by uploading a photo it would make it easier for me to visualize and preclude the need for explanation, by all means, feel free.
First, allow me to explain my situation, just to show you where my weak points are:
First of all, I play only soprano, alto, and tenor, so I don't need to organize reeds for any other instrument, but I do need separation for the three.
Last month, I separated all reeds by instrument, so now I have three little "storage boxes" for the reeds for each instrument, one box for each, and coincidentally each storage box is of a different color. Each storage box stays at home in storage, at all times, while about four loose reeds go with me in my instrument case.
Inside each little storage box, I have two or three boxes of ten new reeds, fresh off the music store shelf, of different makes and strengths. I also have lots of loose reeds in the storage boxes, but each one has its own plastic or paper protective sleeve, or else is kept in Rico Reed-Guards. (I am finding that tenor-size works for all three instruments, and helps keep the tip of the reed farther back from the edge than the smaller Reed Guards).
As for these random, loose reeds in these storage boxes, I tried some of them only once or twice, years ago, while I played some of the others continuously for six months in a row, years ago, but I don't really know which is which anymore, unless I just judge by the color and other signs of deterioration, on the reed itself, but even that is not a consistent sign.
Moreover, as I was using Fibracell fiberglas reeds for many years, and, as they cost about $12 each, it was hard to throw them away, even after they went bad. I am just now switching back to cane, so I am in a process of "testing" different makes and strengths, so I feel the need to keep two or three different makes or strengths of cane reeds in my saxophone case at all times, in order to continue comparing and testing.
To my surprise I have found that a No.2 reed works best on my alto and soprano, but a 3 or 3.5 on my tenor, even when using the same make and model of mouthpiece on all three horns. This difference only adds to the confusion as I try to remember which reeds I was using last, on any given instrument, and which strength worked best at the time. The idea occurred to me of keeping a pocket-sized notebook inside each instrument case, with an updated page describing my latest set-up issues for that instrument, and preferences, but I have not tried doing that just yet.
As for being able to quickly identify any of the reeds that I keep within my instrument case at all times, when using the Reed-Guard I cannot really tell at a glance, what strength the reed is, unless I pull it out and flip it over to check, and then put it back. Moreover, some of the factory markings are so faint that I can hardly even read the strength number anyway, in a dimly-lit room. I am tempted to mark the strength on the round upper side of the reed, instead, with a bold black marker, rather than glance at the playing side, each time.
Long ago, for about three years, I used to write the date of "first use" on the top of each reed, in an attempt to start some kind of rotation system, but it did not work; when I ended up using a different reed temporarily for a few months, for example, and then maybe a different brand of another reed for a few months, I would inadvertently forget whether the date that I had written on the first reed meant that I had used it a lot since that date, or whether it meant that I had merely tested it a few times since that date. Consequently, it did not help me to determine the age, in the end.
I had thought about making one little mark on the top of the reed, with every use, in the same way that a fighter pilot marks on the side of his plane how many enemy planes he has shot down so far, but it seems that I would soon run out of space with this method, so I have never really tried it.
In short, these are my four questions:
(1) I haven't the slightest idea how you pros "rotate" reeds, but I would certainly like to know.
(2) Any suggestions regarding how to mark individual reeds will be greatly appreciated.
(3) Any ideas on how to improve the organization of my reed collection in general, will be well received, as well.
(4) Any other flaws with my system that I may not even aware of, feel free to point them out.
Sincerely grateful,
Erik
