What a great idea. Some people might say 'just buy better reeds', but its not that simple when it comes to getting a good sound. Because cane is such a delicate and inconsistent material its not uncommon to find a few duds in even the most expensive box of 'high quality' reeds. Its actually a good idea to know how to personalize and shape a reed to fit your particular playing style. Its a labor of love that's worthwhile, cost effective, and can also yield huge dividends in terms of better playability and tone. Thanks for posting this, gonna definitely try this.
Yes, I've done this to many reeds for years. I call it an "oboe tip" as I make oboe reeds with a V tip. It allows the reed tip to vibrate freely for high notes, while keeping a thicker back on the reed for the lower notes. To start the break in process, however, I would do alternate wetting and drying of the reed, sanding the dry reeds to remove the grain raised by the wetting. Just a simple piece of 400 grit silicon carbide paper is sufficient for the sanding.
When I purchased my sax a year ago, I also bought 4 reeds but only 2 of them plays nice. The other 2 are crappy and was broken by normal use. When one of the two good reeds was accidentally perforated on the tip, I thought about throwing it away. But on second thought, I gave it a try rehabilitating it. I cut the perforated edge using scissor, then sanded the reed to achieve the normal form of a reed (using my other reed as a model). I used medium fine to very fine sand paper.It worked just fine
Thanks for very useful video, now I can adjuste every sinlgle reed from the box, to produce nice tone in every registar.To pick up the right reed are no more problem!From now, every reed will sound nice! Thanks again!
@klarinetta The issue with using sandpaper is that your finger is then the rubbing surface. Since you have variability in the hardness across the surface of your finger, you will create a wavy surface on the reed and it will be less accurate and last for a shorter amount of time. It is a good idea to play it before you start, that way you know what your goal is when you start shaving. If you are having to clip the read before even starting, then it may be time to go up in hardness.
For repairing a used reed this may be the case. I was going for more of "get all the reeds in a box to play well", wherein the back side is actually machined flat, while the top side you can adjust for imperfections in the wood itself.
Second what some other people already pointed out. Working with the back of the reed is one of the easiest and most effective ways to help a reed play better, even if it's already working pretty well. Reeds warp over time, making the table not sit perfectly flat against the mouthpiece. You could use a little bit of sandpaper and lightly rub the reed over it on a flat surface. That'll work wonders, and it's much faster and easier than working with the parts described in this video.
I actually played on a plastic reed for a long time, and used the "Bari" brand of clear plastic reeds for saxophone. They are excellent for practice since you won't blow through money buying box after box of reeds. Still, if you gave a choice of wood or plastic I would have to go with the wooden reeds for quality of sound. I don't know what it is, but I just prefer them.
Good tips. I've had problems where I get a great reed...play it several times, then it squeaks. I tried the scraping(very lightly) on the underside, where the bottom of the mouthpiece window imprints on the reed surface with repeated use. It solves the problem every time. I think it swells there, then it does not seal completely. Shaving it slightly cures the problem. You can only do this a limited number of times before the reed can't be repaired.
@SelmerArty If you hold a reed up to the light, you'll be able to see a darker area where light does not pass through. This darker (denser) area will be a ^ shape (upside down V). This means that the reed is harder in the center, while softer on the edges. Out of the box, reeds may have off-centered Vs or sometimes just a flat line across the reed. You want a centered V shape, with moderately inclined sides (of the V). This will give you a crisper, more pointed sound.
Another note: I still have a bunch of 5+ year old plastic reeds. They hold up (obviously) much better than wooden ones, but they do seem to soften with age I think. The older ones I have have warped on the tops. Not that it matters, you spend $15 for at least a full year of practice reed...but they aren't 'invincible' as some makers claim.
@mr82020674 I use sandpaper attached to some kind of a soft rubber cube. It's from the ATG reed finishing system from Tom Ridenour that you can find at least 3 videos about here on TH-cam. Today I took a brand new reed that was a bit too stiff and unresponsive in the high register on my clarinet and made it into a great reed in less than a minute with this system. Not all reeds will be turned great but you can get 90% of reeds to work.
Excellent tutorial. Instead of setting fire to my box of La Voz medium hards, I simply shaved off a few microns here and there, and VOILA. Unbelievable. I feel somewhat dim-witted for not stumbling upon this years ago.
@SelmerArty In continuation of my last post, you do not want too sharp of a V shape, or you may get squauky. Its sort of a personal preference as to the precise shape, but you'll develop that over time. Most inexpensive reeds will have a sort of flat distribution of density across the reed, so you'll just need to shave some from the sides to make the V. You'll notice that a reed that used to sound like mud, now sounds bright and has eliminated any fuzziness in the sound.
In continuation (and in explanation of my last comment), this method is quantifiable. That is to say, if you really want to get perfect, you can measure the changes and the reed this way (distance). It would be much harder to measure the density of the cane while testing notes. All that being said, if you have found a way that is better suited to your own playing, by all means use it ;-). That is what's great about information sharing, people can find the best method that suits themselves.
The back of the reeds may also not be perfectly flat out of the box. Try taking a box of new reeds, putting them on a flat surface, and rolling over the top of them with your finger. You may get some rocking on a few of them. Also, hold the reed on something flat up to the light. If any light shines through underneath the reed, you don't have a flat back. I've found this to happen on "machined" reeds as well as ones I've been using.
I've discovered some plasticoat spray, that works amazingly well! Simply buy some cheap Chinese reads and coat them, if you get only 50% of a 10 box, then it's still worth the time and effort.
You have to be really careful when shaving a reed there, one slip up and you can ruin a reed. Like Joe Strazz said, a lot of reeds aren't completely flat on the back and sanding it down can improve the sound.
Thank you for this helpful video. Do you trim above the heart usually? or just do it when you find huge unbalanced shape of the heart? I find most reeds have slightly unbalanced hearts, can't tell much differences due to my lack of experiences.
It depends on how bad the reed is, but I generally don't think of it as fixing the 'top' or 'bottom', and try to only scrape one side or another. Here is an excellent resource- owd.tcnj.edu/~mckinney/the%20reed.htm
@klarinetta I am sure your method works well for you, possibly my method is outdated. I learned it from my teacher, who played with Benny Goodman. I am just a little incredulous, because you said that looking in the light does not help- it may be the case that you do not have enough light, because looking through a reed will tell you a lot of information.
@mr82020674 Vandoren reed stick is a glass stick that comes with the reed resurface plate. It's just like a permanent reed rush. The goal is to balance out the reed. Balanced reed play with more ease and it will break-in evenly,last for a longer time and be more robust against climate/level of moist changes. An unbalanced reed will make you have to put a unnecessary pressure to balance it out aka to bite.
I respectfully disagree with the premise that visual observation of the reed, certainly as the primary method of establishing the symmetry on either side of its mid-line should be the determining factor regarding where material should be taken off the reed. In short, one needs to PLAY to reed, and move the mouthpiece side to side to determine which side PLAYs more resistantly, not simply observe which side is thicker. Often these correlate but cane's a "funny animal" best revealed for stength and weakness with play.
A reed that has warped is almost 100% likely to warp again. Balancing the reed from the beginning and let only the vamp site get moisten will avoid the reed from warping. The reed will be broken-in in a balanced fashion,will be much more stable and last much longer.
@klarinetta I'm not saying this method is wrong. What I'm saying is that this method takes much longer time and there is much more risk of ruining the reed. I encourage you to look up "ATG reed finishing system" and watch for yourself here on TH-cam. If you search for "Getting the most out of your clarinet reeds" then kathywilliams76 has some useful tips. And in both cases it's all about how the reed plays and feels.
Huh, the link is still working for me. You should be able to click on it, see the image and title, then click that image to go to amazon. Anyway, it is the Cordier reed trimmer. Yes, it is a good idea to cut towards the tip so as to not damage the reed. Others have also suggested modifying the back side of the reed. I was taught not to do this, however if you have a reed with a warped back, it makes sense that flattening it will give you a better sound.
@klarinetta Also, a reed is a reed is a reed, I am not sure what you meant in your vandoren comment- some brands do have better consistency, but all boxes are going to have a few that need extreme tweaking.
I'm not familiar with reedgeek, but I mentioned that so that people don't curve the backside. If you are doing something that can actually get it straighter than the machines do, then by all means go for it. I don't use it in the video, but I actually have a piece of 'perfect' glass that I normal use to ensure the reed is perfectly flat. Really it all boils down to getting a good sounding reed, so whatever works, just do it ;-)
@klarinetta And btw I'm telling you this because for many years I used to use reed knife with not so good results. Took much longer time and I often ruined reeds. Then I got the ATG reed finishing system and I watched the 50 min DVD and after that I took 5 already broken-in reeds that were not so good and I fixed them in less than 10 minutes on my first go with the system.
What actually works for me is to play the reed to know whats happening against my setup and playing style before I adjust it and mainly only with sandpaper and sometimes Vandoren reeds stick when it needs very little adjusting. Looking at it in the light does not help much. And before you trim your reed you need to tapper the tip before so it will play the same only a bit stiffer.
Adjusting the other side means that you are altering your tip opening. Not by much, but you'll probably notice it in your playing. And besides, the idea of all this is to get the maximum evenness into your reed, so that it vibrates more evenly. The "other" side is normally perfectly trimmed flat in the factory, this side isn't. So changing that side means your reed won't have an even shape, thus no constant vibration. That's not necessarily bad, it's just unpredictable and not always good.
Interesting visual method of balancing reeds. You're assuming that the opacity always correlates to the mechanical properties. Maybe sometimes - that would be assuming that the material of cane is perfectly homogeneous, unlikely. A more sensitive test is testing for side-to-side reed resistance by tipping the mouthpiece to one side or the other while testing notes. This method uses your own sensitivity as a player, but takes some practice. Google "Tom Ridenour" and "reed balancing".
thanks for this post.... i will try this.... but "never touch the other side"????!!! that's the only reed adjusting ive been doing so far,and it helps a lot as well...it is the focus of the product called reedgeek,and assures that my reeds lie(man i forgot how to spell this!!) perfectly on the table.
There's nothing more annoying than buying a box of reeds with duff ones that won't play! I switched to the plasticoat ones, and found that they are really good, no pre wetting like the wood ones, so you can pick up and play. Good tutorial though, I may try this out and see how it goes.
Thanks for the tips. Could you give the product name / number and manufacturer for the reed cutter? Your Amazon link doesn't work any more, and I'm in the UK, so I wouldn't have been able to use it directly anyway. You obviously know what you're doing, but for the rest of us, I would have thought it's best to only scrape towards the tip, not move the blade backwards and forwards. It would be too easy to slip and dig the blade in.
Your only suppose to scrape AWAY from the heel. BTW, Zhonda reeds are from south america. Also, if the reed is warpped you MUST flatten the bottom of the reed.
@Whatawaytogogo Thanks! Yes, after I learned this I stopped wasting 40%< of a box of reeds...so great to be able to use all the ones (that you pay for!)
I can get a terrible reed to be very playable in less than 1 minute using the ATG reed finishing system. It's all about how it plays and not about how it looks.
Do you mean a visual? I could do something like that. I play test would not really be useful, since each and every reed differs in how much alignment it needs.
Not to be combative, but I think you are being rather pedantic here. Cane is not perfectly homogeneous, however any minute variations in density will not present themselves the same way the differences in thickness will, across a reed. The method you suggest not only requires practiced skill, but I would argue that it cannot possibly yield the same consistency of results. This reed shaving method works so well because it is actually how reeds are made.
+Faith Julius-adebisi .....because even most of the expensive reeds will need some adjustment, you'll be lucky to get a couple of playable reeds straight out of the box no matter how much you pay for them.
Why not use a reed knife. I've had a dozen saxophone teachers, they all used proper reed knifes. At good reed knife will cost you as little as $25 and will last forever. A razor blade is so ghetto and is almost too sharp so you'll end up ruining a ton of reeds in the beginning.
I probably wouldnt need to do this If I did my mom would probably be able to do it fairly easily I have musical mother privelidge Free reeds and cheap books HELL YEAH
![[#2024MAMA] G-DRAGON - 무제(Untitled, 2014)+POWER+HOME SWEET HOME+뱅뱅뱅+FANTASTIC BABY | Mnet 241123 방송](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Ox29z5Nf1Uk/mqdefault.jpg)
What a great idea. Some people might say 'just buy better reeds', but its not that simple when it comes to getting a good sound. Because cane is such a delicate and inconsistent material its not uncommon to find a few duds in even the most expensive box of 'high quality' reeds. Its actually a good idea to know how to personalize and shape a reed to fit your particular playing style. Its a labor of love that's worthwhile, cost effective, and can also yield huge dividends in terms of better playability and tone. Thanks for posting this, gonna definitely try this.
Glad I could help!
Yes, I've done this to many reeds for years. I call it an "oboe tip" as I make oboe reeds with a V tip. It allows the reed tip to vibrate freely for high notes, while keeping a thicker back on the reed for the lower notes.
To start the break in process, however, I would do alternate wetting and drying of the reed, sanding the dry reeds to remove the grain raised by the wetting. Just a simple piece of 400 grit silicon carbide paper is sufficient for the sanding.
Not everyone would agree but this works for me! Thanks! :D
When I purchased my sax a year ago, I also bought 4 reeds but only 2 of them plays nice. The other 2 are crappy and was broken by normal use. When one of the two good reeds was accidentally perforated on the tip, I thought about throwing it away. But on second thought, I gave it a try rehabilitating it. I cut the perforated edge using scissor, then sanded the reed to achieve the normal form of a reed (using my other reed as a model). I used medium fine to very fine sand paper.It worked just fine
Thanks for very useful video, now I can adjuste every sinlgle reed from the box, to produce nice tone in every registar.To pick up the right reed are no more problem!From now, every reed will sound nice! Thanks again!
You are welcome, glad it could help!!
Great method! Works better than anything I've tried.
@klarinetta The issue with using sandpaper is that your finger is then the rubbing surface. Since you have variability in the hardness across the surface of your finger, you will create a wavy surface on the reed and it will be less accurate and last for a shorter amount of time.
It is a good idea to play it before you start, that way you know what your goal is when you start shaving. If you are having to clip the read before even starting, then it may be time to go up in hardness.
For repairing a used reed this may be the case. I was going for more of "get all the reeds in a box to play well", wherein the back side is actually machined flat, while the top side you can adjust for imperfections in the wood itself.
Second what some other people already pointed out. Working with the back of the reed is one of the easiest and most effective ways to help a reed play better, even if it's already working pretty well. Reeds warp over time, making the table not sit perfectly flat against the mouthpiece. You could use a little bit of sandpaper and lightly rub the reed over it on a flat surface. That'll work wonders, and it's much faster and easier than working with the parts described in this video.
this video helped me SO SO SO MUCH! forever grateful
Glad it could help!
I actually played on a plastic reed for a long time, and used the "Bari" brand of clear plastic reeds for saxophone. They are excellent for practice since you won't blow through money buying box after box of reeds. Still, if you gave a choice of wood or plastic I would have to go with the wooden reeds for quality of sound. I don't know what it is, but I just prefer them.
Good tips. I've had problems where I get a great reed...play it several times, then it squeaks. I tried the scraping(very lightly) on the underside, where the bottom of the mouthpiece window imprints on the reed surface with repeated use. It solves the problem every time. I think it swells there, then it does not seal completely. Shaving it slightly cures the problem. You can only do this a limited number of times before the reed can't be repaired.
@SelmerArty
If you hold a reed up to the light, you'll be able to see a darker area where light does not pass through. This darker (denser) area will be a ^ shape (upside down V). This means that the reed is harder in the center, while softer on the edges. Out of the box, reeds may have off-centered Vs or sometimes just a flat line across the reed. You want a centered V shape, with moderately inclined sides (of the V). This will give you a crisper, more pointed sound.
Another note: I still have a bunch of 5+ year old plastic reeds. They hold up (obviously) much better than wooden ones, but they do seem to soften with age I think. The older ones I have have warped on the tops. Not that it matters, you spend $15 for at least a full year of practice reed...but they aren't 'invincible' as some makers claim.
@mr82020674 I use sandpaper attached to some kind of a soft rubber cube. It's from the ATG reed finishing system from Tom Ridenour that you can find at least 3 videos about here on TH-cam. Today I took a brand new reed that was a bit too stiff and unresponsive in the high register on my clarinet and made it into a great reed in less than a minute with this system. Not all reeds will be turned great but you can get 90% of reeds to work.
Thanks! I am going to try the sandpaper method another user mentioned today and see how that works out.
Excellent tutorial. Instead of setting fire to my box of La Voz medium hards, I simply shaved off a few microns here and there, and VOILA. Unbelievable. I feel somewhat dim-witted for not stumbling upon this years ago.
@SelmerArty
In continuation of my last post, you do not want too sharp of a V shape, or you may get squauky. Its sort of a personal preference as to the precise shape, but you'll develop that over time. Most inexpensive reeds will have a sort of flat distribution of density across the reed, so you'll just need to shave some from the sides to make the V. You'll notice that a reed that used to sound like mud, now sounds bright and has eliminated any fuzziness in the sound.
In continuation (and in explanation of my last comment), this method is quantifiable. That is to say, if you really want to get perfect, you can measure the changes and the reed this way (distance). It would be much harder to measure the density of the cane while testing notes.
All that being said, if you have found a way that is better suited to your own playing, by all means use it ;-). That is what's great about information sharing, people can find the best method that suits themselves.
The back of the reeds may also not be perfectly flat out of the box. Try taking a box of new reeds, putting them on a flat surface, and rolling over the top of them with your finger. You may get some rocking on a few of them. Also, hold the reed on something flat up to the light. If any light shines through underneath the reed, you don't have a flat back. I've found this to happen on "machined" reeds as well as ones I've been using.
I've discovered some plasticoat spray, that works amazingly well! Simply buy some cheap Chinese reads and coat them, if you get only 50% of a 10 box, then it's still worth the time and effort.
You have to be really careful when shaving a reed there, one slip up and you can ruin a reed. Like Joe Strazz said, a lot of reeds aren't completely flat on the back and sanding it down can improve the sound.
I'm trying the Bari saxophone and I should try this
Thank you for this helpful video. Do you trim above the heart usually? or just do it when you find huge unbalanced shape of the heart? I find most reeds have slightly unbalanced hearts, can't tell much differences due to my lack of experiences.
It depends on how bad the reed is, but I generally don't think of it as fixing the 'top' or 'bottom', and try to only scrape one side or another. Here is an excellent resource- owd.tcnj.edu/~mckinney/the%20reed.htm
@@GarageMaxedOut I can't thank you enough. This one got everything I need to know!
@klarinetta I am sure your method works well for you, possibly my method is outdated. I learned it from my teacher, who played with Benny Goodman. I am just a little incredulous, because you said that looking in the light does not help- it may be the case that you do not have enough light, because looking through a reed will tell you a lot of information.
@mr82020674 Vandoren reed stick is a glass stick that comes with the reed resurface plate. It's just like a permanent reed rush.
The goal is to balance out the reed. Balanced reed play with more ease and it will break-in evenly,last for a longer time and be more robust against climate/level of moist changes.
An unbalanced reed will make you have to put a unnecessary pressure to balance it out aka to bite.
I respectfully disagree with the premise that visual observation of the reed, certainly as the primary method of establishing the symmetry on either side of its mid-line should be the determining factor regarding where material should be taken off the reed. In short, one needs to PLAY to reed, and move the mouthpiece side to side to determine which side PLAYs more resistantly, not simply observe which side is thicker. Often these correlate but cane's a "funny animal" best revealed for stength and weakness with play.
This is the technique Benny Goodman taught my music teacher when they played together- I'd say whatever works for you, go for it!
A reed that has warped is almost 100% likely to warp again. Balancing the reed from the beginning and let only the vamp site get moisten will avoid the reed from warping. The reed will be broken-in in a balanced fashion,will be much more stable and last much longer.
@klarinetta I'm not saying this method is wrong. What I'm saying is that this method takes much longer time and there is much more risk of ruining the reed.
I encourage you to look up "ATG reed finishing system" and watch for yourself here on TH-cam. If you search for "Getting the most out of your clarinet reeds" then kathywilliams76 has some useful tips. And in both cases it's all about how the reed plays and feels.
Huh, the link is still working for me. You should be able to click on it, see the image and title, then click that image to go to amazon. Anyway, it is the Cordier reed trimmer.
Yes, it is a good idea to cut towards the tip so as to not damage the reed. Others have also suggested modifying the back side of the reed. I was taught not to do this, however if you have a reed with a warped back, it makes sense that flattening it will give you a better sound.
Excellent tutorial!!
Glad you liked it!
@klarinetta Also, a reed is a reed is a reed, I am not sure what you meant in your vandoren comment- some brands do have better consistency, but all boxes are going to have a few that need extreme tweaking.
It would be handy if you compared the difference of a trimmed and untrimmed read. Before and after trimming it
Yeah they are a definite must-have!
I'm not familiar with reedgeek, but I mentioned that so that people don't curve the backside. If you are doing something that can actually get it straighter than the machines do, then by all means go for it. I don't use it in the video, but I actually have a piece of 'perfect' glass that I normal use to ensure the reed is perfectly flat. Really it all boils down to getting a good sounding reed, so whatever works, just do it ;-)
@klarinetta And btw I'm telling you this because for many years I used to use reed knife with not so good results. Took much longer time and I often ruined reeds. Then I got the ATG reed finishing system and I watched the 50 min DVD and after that I took 5 already broken-in reeds that were not so good and I fixed them in less than 10 minutes on my first go with the system.
What actually works for me is to play the reed to know whats happening against my setup and playing style before I adjust it and mainly only with sandpaper and sometimes Vandoren reeds stick when it needs very little adjusting. Looking at it in the light does not help much.
And before you trim your reed you need to tapper the tip before so it will play the same only a bit stiffer.
Adjusting the other side means that you are altering your tip opening. Not by much, but you'll probably notice it in your playing.
And besides, the idea of all this is to get the maximum evenness into your reed, so that it vibrates more evenly. The "other" side is normally perfectly trimmed flat in the factory, this side isn't. So changing that side means your reed won't have an even shape, thus no constant vibration.
That's not necessarily bad, it's just unpredictable and not always good.
Interesting visual method of balancing reeds. You're assuming that the opacity always correlates to the mechanical properties. Maybe sometimes - that would be assuming that the material of cane is perfectly homogeneous, unlikely. A more sensitive test is testing for side-to-side reed resistance by tipping the mouthpiece to one side or the other while testing notes. This method uses your own sensitivity as a player, but takes some practice. Google "Tom Ridenour" and "reed balancing".
thanks for this post.... i will try this.... but "never touch the other side"????!!! that's the only reed adjusting ive been doing so far,and it helps a lot as well...it is the focus of the product called reedgeek,and assures that my reeds lie(man i forgot how to spell this!!) perfectly on the table.
There's nothing more annoying than buying a box of reeds with duff ones that won't play! I switched to the plasticoat ones, and found that they are really good, no pre wetting like the wood ones, so you can pick up and play. Good tutorial though, I may try this out and see how it goes.
must buy reed clippers!
Thanks for the tips. Could you give the product name / number and manufacturer for the reed cutter? Your Amazon link doesn't work any more, and I'm in the UK, so I wouldn't have been able to use it directly anyway.
You obviously know what you're doing, but for the rest of us, I would have thought it's best to only scrape towards the tip, not move the blade backwards and forwards. It would be too easy to slip and dig the blade in.
Your only suppose to scrape AWAY from the heel. BTW, Zhonda reeds are from south america. Also, if the reed is warpped you MUST flatten the bottom of the reed.
Wow, you are pretty skilled to be able to clip them with scissors. I'll post a link to the reed clipper I have, it works great.
@Whatawaytogogo Thanks! Yes, after I learned this I stopped wasting 40%< of a box of reeds...so great to be able to use all the ones (that you pay for!)
I can get a terrible reed to be very playable in less than 1 minute using the ATG reed finishing system. It's all about how it plays and not about how it looks.
what system are you talking about?
emirhasa Tom Ridenour’s Against The Grain (ATG) system
Do you mean a visual? I could do something like that. I play test would not really be useful, since each and every reed differs in how much alignment it needs.
@klarinetta Oh cool, that sounds pretty useful, I'll have to check one out
What should you do for a read to resemble a perfect number 3 vandoren reed? (Or another good reed for classical saxophone)
Try using vandorin zz 3's or v12's good for trying to get altissimo range
Yes, such a great trick!
DO REEDS FROM THE NILE RIVER WORK BEST ?
YEAH ? GO TELL TUT THAT !
Good
Thank you!
worked first time.So effective; an end to mystery à la Teal ( bless him).THANKS.
You're welcome!
What if I can't see the V?
All woodwind reeds are customized by shaving
유익한 정보 색소폰 연주 에🎷 많은도움이됩니다
감사합니다. 🙏
함께합니다 굿👍
Glad it could help!
You will need to get a brighter light behind the reed
so I'm looking at some of my reeds and I don't see a v on most of them.
Hold them directly in front of a light bulb
Thx man :)
You are welcome!
optimally
plat the damn reed first..then you can adjusted it if it needs
Thanks for that...
No worries!
No harm in practicing on used reeds that would have been tossed.
bruh im currently destroying reeds i play so much and they are even plastics reeds but i somehow kill them in 2 to 3 months
Go up in hardness
that is not a razor blade, but a dry-wall blade or X-acto
Thanks officer
A chacun son rasoir.
The lower back, do not sand the back near the tip.
Not to be combative, but I think you are being rather pedantic here. Cane is not perfectly homogeneous, however any minute variations in density will not present themselves the same way the differences in thickness will, across a reed. The method you suggest not only requires practiced skill, but I would argue that it cannot possibly yield the same consistency of results. This reed shaving method works so well because it is actually how reeds are made.
why dont just buy the ones that arent cheap
+Faith Julius-adebisi .....because even most of the expensive reeds will need some adjustment, you'll be lucky to get a couple of playable reeds straight out of the box no matter how much you pay for them.
Faith Julius-adebisi This was just for demonstration purposes lol
that to much for me
Why not use a reed knife. I've had a dozen saxophone teachers, they all used proper reed knifes. At good reed knife will cost you as little as $25 and will last forever. A razor blade is so ghetto and is almost too sharp so you'll end up ruining a ton of reeds in the beginning.
Oof
I probably wouldnt need to do this
If I did my mom would probably be able to do it fairly easily
I have musical mother privelidge
Free reeds and cheap books HELL YEAH
Even out of the box you are going to have crap reeds- I keep a razorblade in my case
The only tool you need for making most reeds work is the ReedFile! www.reedfile.com.
Great tip!