Reeds: Can’t Live With ‘em; Can’t Live Without ‘em!
Author: Helen
Over on the Woodwind Forum we have spent nearly a week discussing the bane of most saxophonists’ lives: reeds. It all started with a forum member asking other members to post their favourite reed rescue remedies. This lead to some very interesting discussions about brands, reed prepping and the likes.
As he so often does, our local Artist in Residence, side C, wrote something that resonated with many of us. He has a way of capturing the concept, and getting it down on (electronic) paper, that far surpasses most published academics. Here’s what side C had to say…
I’ll try to give you my take on what happens with the reeds, and how I deal with trying to master their idiosyncrasies.
Of course we know that the reed is the basis of the sound that we produce when we blow air into the saxophone. The variables begin when we tie the reed to the mouthpiece. If your mouthpiece is fairly open, you might want to use a softer reed. If the piece isn’t too open, a stronger reed might work. So we get into the area of resistance.
For me, this is when things start to get a little tricky. The vibration of the reed affects everything about the saxophone. The sound comes from vibration, but I feel that the quality, the nature, of the vibration comes from the type of resistance that the player is experiencing while playing.
We make adjustments to this resistance by altering the reed and/or mouthpiece set up that we use. A “bigger” set up, an open piece and a hard reed, gives the player more resistance, while a “smaller” set up, more closed piece and softer reed, lessens resistance.
Many players like resistance because it gives them something to lean against, and better control over management of notes and phrases. Many also think that resistance helps to achieve a bigger sound.
On the other hand, many players like a lesser amount of resistance because they don’t need anything to lean against, and they still get excellent control of the horn. And they don’t need resistance to achieve a big sound.
For me, the answer is in the middle someplace. I like resistance, but I need to get good mileage with my air, for playing long phrases. I used to use a fairly large set up on my alto, a 7* Link hr with a #4 Vandoren, the control was great at higher volume levels, but I couldn’t control it when playing soft. Plus, I was running out of air in the middle of phrases on ballads. I’m using the same mouthpiece today, but with a shaved java #3. Getting old is rough.
Much like he did when he wrote about the thumb rest & the thumb hook, side C managed to write about a critical element of the saxophone in a way that is accessible, while at the same time still bringing the reader to an “a ha” moment.
If you’re not yet a member of the Woodwind Forum, or you’ve not yet even lurked there, what are you waiting for? It’s definitely worth a look. It’s not the same old, same old.
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