The reed needs to be slightly wet to vibrate/swing properly otherwise it could break eventually and dry reeds sound less good. Wet wood is more flexible than complete dry one. The warping is coming from not being sufficently wet. It will go away if the level of humidity in the reed is right (but not completely soaked, there can also be a level of humidity that is too high).

 

Yes and the reed also changes shape a whole lot between being dry and getting wet. It would kill your performance as it got wet from playing. In a wet environment a wet reed is more stable.

 

Exactly this.

Even if you wanted to play it dry, it will get wet from playing.

 

Maybe we just like the taste 😁

 

I've thought for a long time that kids would be more likely to practice if the reeds were flavored. I mean, it's worked for e-cigarettes.

 

if reeds would split when dry then what is the purpose of rico plasticover and why don't they split ?

They are natural cane coated in resin meant to be dry during playing and not splitting open.

I agree, OTHER reeds will always get wet (and change shape by wetting) when played. Of course we aren't talking of synthetics.

 

The reed does not have to be wet to play; hence, a Plasticover, which is a cane reed coated in a resin, plays fine dry, which is the whole purpose of its existence. An uncoated cane reed would do the same, except for one huge problem; as soon as you start to play it, its going to get wet and immediately wrinkle, ending your short performance until you can keep it wet a few minutes until it straightens out.
So, we cut to the chase and moisten the reed before we need to play it so it is stabilized during the playing session. If the playing session has extended breaks, allowing the reed to dry, it has to be re-wetted to prepare it for playing again.
If a student can find a decent synthetic reed, they can eliminate all this rigamarole and just play immediately whenever they want to.

 

“If a student can find a decent synthetic reed, they can eliminate all this rigamarole and just play immediately whenever they want to.” That is sadly becoming VERY tempting! I like the idea of “mastering” traditional skills, but I have devoted so much time to sorting out reed issues/understanding, breaking in new reeds, trying new brands/strengths that my real playing time has been significantly diminished. And at 76, it’s not like I have a life-time ahead of me to get it figured out!

 

Why does it have to be such a challenge?

This is not unlike the "Clarinet is so hard" thread. Hundreds of thousands of children learn to do this without realizing that it is sooooooo difficult. So many people are making this into so much darn drama.

Back in the day... I used only Rico Royal and an Otto Link STM 7*. If a #3 was too hard, then I used a 2 1/2. I think that was the extent of my reed trials. After that it was up to me to play.

There is so much cork sniffing that goes on here. Sure, there exist nuances between cuts and brands, but it's just a reed.

Bottom line: We mindfully wet a reed to take it through the transition from one equilibrium state to the next. The perceived warp occurs when the reed is not uniformly hydrated. You don't have to soak them, just put the reed in your mouth as you assemble your horn. Done.

P.S. and OBTW: If you want to play woodwinds, yet hate, hate, hate reeds, there is always the flute. You already know most of the fingerings.

 

I dunno. Maybe I’m cursed. I spend a great deal of time trying to break in reeds slowly (I follow Dr Wally Wallace’s method) — lots of time spent changing, cleaning, drying reed — then play another one for 1 minute, or 2 mins, whatever. I finally get the set of reeds up to “broken in”status and can play each one as long as I want (usually 45-60 minutes per session). But then — and usually pretty soon after — something else “happens”, eg, after 7 or 10 mins of playing, the reed gets hard to play. Usually taking the reed off and wetting it again, then re-installing, gives me another 10-15 minutes of good playing. THEN I discover I need to store my reeds in a Rico reed case, not the plastic they come in. So I do that, break in some new reeds, and BINGO! Right back where I was! Very frustrating and I’d much rather be spending the time learning to play my sax better, not learning what I need to be doing with the reeds. I wish I had your experience, Dr G, but mine is decidedly different and I’m trying to fix it, not play flute.
I’m NOW wondering if I need to keep my reeds hydrated between playing, as letting them dry out and then soaking for 60 sec before playing isn’t working. Maybe the constant drying/wetting cycle doesn’t work for me, although others seem to swear by it.
I also find that if I hold a brand new reed against a straight edge into the light, it shows a dead flat surface. I play it once for a minute or two, store it in a Rico reed case, wet it, play it for a minute or two, hold it up with the straight edge, it usually already shows slight warp setting in — usually more toward the tip. I can flatten that with a blade/reedgeek/sand paper, but the whole process just begins again. And each time the warping gets worse, and even though I’m now storing them in a Rico reed case, I get back into that cycle of playing for 7 to 10 minutes, then needing to wet the reed again, then another little but of playing….This ain’t easy!

 

Not all reeds warp when wet. My experience is that they warp when they are on their way out. At that point, I throw them away.

 

Well, that’s what’s brought me to the edge! I’ve just started 4 brand new Rigotti reeds, prepped them and broken them in fully (as far as I understand it), stored them in a Rico reed case, and warping (checking with the straight edge) starts to show up by the first few times I play them. And that’s long before I’ve been able to get a 20-minute session out of them. Throwing them away so soon just can’t be right!

 

I’m a classical player, primarily. I have been soaking my reeds in water for decades. It isn’t hard. FWIW, I have yet to meet a serious double-reed player who does not soak their reeds in water.

I used to teach a class I called “Reed Mythology.” In it, I pulled out various Vandoren strengths and types, opened their wrapper and put them on the mouthpiece with zero preparation or wetting. Most of the students expected a squeaky mess, but the reeds played just fine… for a few minutes. As they absorbed moisture from the mouth and breath, however, things changed as described by others.

Also, many of the things I do to reeds are about promoting consistency and longevity. I have had cane reeds last a year under regular, hard playing.

BTW, I soak my reeds 5-20 minutes, and when ambient humidity is much below 40%, I have to pay careful attention to reed moisture even as I’m playing.

 

I don't soak my reeds. It just makes them lose tone, get moldy, and warp faster. I just suck on the reed a bit before playing, then dry it off and put it in the reed case after I'm done playing.

 

I don't soak my reeds. It just makes them lose tone, get moldy, and warp faster.

Not true as a universal rule. What works for one, may not work for all.

 

oh, You can use a knife, reedgeek, or any other straight-edged tool to take care of that. The reed care pages are full of people talking about this. In my other comment when I said make sure the back is flat I meant doing this. Every time you go to play. Sometimes you’ll remove nothing, others a fair amount. Takes ten seconds and makes a difference.

 

+1

The only thing I'd add is that you should do this after soaking the reed (or wetting it in your mouth, or whatever your process involves), because the soaking/wetting process itself can cause the reed to change dimensions as it absorbs water.

Also, if you wet the reed table before running the straight-edged tool across it, you'll be able to use the reflection pattern to quickly identify low spots (i.e., high spots will look matte after scraping, while low spots will retain the wetting and look more specular), which will make it easy to see when you've flattened the table.

 

OK @Mando, here’s MY truth. Breaking in reeds is a waste of time and money. Here is what I do.

Take the reed out of the box
Soak it for 2-3 minutes in water
(Optional) flatten the back with a geek like tool
Put it on the moutpiece and neck alone (the whole horn for soprano sax and clarinet) and do the side to side balance test.
Adjust the side that’s harder/more resistant/stuffy compared to the other. If overall too hard, adjust both sides.
Repeat the previous two steps until the reed is balanced and plays well
Put it in the case and go on to the next reed.

All told, 5 minutes per reed. Maybe 6…. Takes as much time to write as to do.

FWIW, the reason breaking in is a waste of money is that during the break in process, you are playing the reed a total of 30 minutes, perhaps more. On an unbalanced reed, that puts some twist on the fibers as the hard side works to keep up with the soft side. Thus stressing and perhaps tearing them. I am convinced that this is the reason that most methodologies that include a break in period end up discarding some large percentage of the reeds. You are literally playing them to death.

 

OK, thanks, all. In spite of hearing all about the value of breaking in reeds, I'm going at my next reed cold turkey! Breaking in (or SOMETHING!) isn't working for me. BTW, I have flattened/scraped/reedgeeked warped reeds, but just recently, I started breaking in 4 new Rigottis, and while they were flat at the start (determined with a straight edge), only two or three very short "break in" sessions (with proper storage in Rico reed cases in between) produced visible and increasing warp AND typical warped-reed problems when playing. Hence, my question about why we wet reeds if wetting them causes them to warp. Thanks to everyone.

 

We wet reeds because it makes them more flexible and responsive. What more do you want people to say? Warping happens. Perhaps what you’re figuring out is that the reeds you’re choosing to use now respond better to a different process than you’re used to. I wouldn’t play if all reeds required a rigorous routine of ramping up the minutes and doing whole hours of getting in 5-10 minutes on each new reed and moving on. Regardless of brands, routines, and methods of care, adjustments and storage we all end up with the same result to the listener. 🤷‍♂️

 

 

Blue raspberry for blues, sweet cherry red for smooth jazz, and Fried Bananas yellow for that lush Dexter vibe…why do we play anything else?

 

Don't forget tangy orange reeds for acid jazz

 

“We wet reeds because it makes them more flexible and responsive. What more do you want people to say?” Don’t want people to say anything more than they want to say. So far, what they’ve said has been helpful, so I guess it was a good question for ME to have asked.

 

Again, if it were not for the reed wrinkling when being moistened, we could just slap them on and play them - but we can't - we have to wait for them to stabilize. I never soak reeds. A brand new one or an old played one, both dry, get treated the same; moisten, put in the Reed Guard, play after a few minutes or hours, take off the mouthpiece and put back in the Reed Guard.
We don't have to wet reeds before playing to make them more 'flexible/responsive'; this happens automatically when we play them. The only reason for pre-wetting is to allow the reed tip to wrinkle and then straighten so we can play. As some have stated, you could put the reed on dry and just moisten it on the horn and it will be playable soon. In my case, I prefer to have several reeds moistened and ready to play so I can play different ones immediately and pick the one I want to use for the current session.
As for the reed table-side warping and causing resistance, I can't say that I have experienced that. On my set-up reeds play the same way and get softer with repeated uses, not harder. I do use a very tight ligature and I know my mouthpiece table/facing is optimal, so I suppose that is the reason.

 

Again, if it were not for the reed wrinkling when being moistened, we could just slap them on and play them - but we can't - we have to wait for them to stabilize. I never soak reeds. A brand new one or an old played one, both dry, get treated the same; moisten, put in the Reed Guard, play after a few minutes or hours, take off the mouthpiece and put back in the Reed Guard.
We don't have to wet reeds before playing to make them more 'flexible/responsive'; this happens automatically when we play them. The only reason for pre-wetting is to allow the reed tip to wrinkle and then straighten so we can play. As some have stated, you could put the reed on dry and just moisten it on the horn and it will be playable soon. In my case, I prefer to have several reeds moistened and ready to play so I can play different ones immediately and pick the one I want to use for the current session.
As for the reed table-side warping and causing resistance, I can't say that I have experienced that. On my set-up reeds play the same way and get softer with repeated uses, not harder. I do use a very tight ligature and I know my mouthpiece table/facing is optimal, so I suppose that is the reason.

Given that you’ve never experienced warp on the table side, and that seems to have been my nemesis, I’m going to follow your approach!

 

The problem with soaking the reeds is that it might be useful if you live in a super dry country/area. You need to find your own way. I only wet the reeds in my mouth before playing/practice. For example here in The UK the weather is on the wet side almost all year round. If I get my reeds too wet, they simply get too soft, waterlogged or even mouldy.

 

Playing a dry reed wouldn’t give you the proper sound and vibration. Plus I honestly think it would tear your lip up a lot more because soaking the reed softens the material so it’s easier on your mouth.