Transcript
Hi, this is Troy Roberts. Today we’re going to talk about reed for the saxophone.
So, when you’re playing, it’s important to take care of the reed, because without the reed, I mean, that’s what produces the sound. You’ve really got nothing if your reed is damaged or not taken care of. When playing and when in performance, it’s important to put your mouthpiece cap back on the mouthpiece. This protects the mouthpiece and the reed. When not playing, it’s important to take the reed off, give it a little dry, because it’s going to be moist, and have condensation, and put it back in it’s case.
This is a Vandoren reed. It came with this case. Most reeds come with a case. Actually, all reeds come with a case. So if you put it back in that case, it’s not going to get damaged.
You can also invest in little reed cases, which hold maybe, four or six reeds together. It’s a little plastic case with a carbon insert in the middle, which regulates the humidity or dries out a reed.
Another method of reed storage or care, is that some people like to keep the reed within it’s case, also inside a container of water with vodka or sugar-free mouthwash, which keeps the reed clean and consistently wet. This can be good for keeping the reed in one condition. It’s always wet. Some people argue that it’ll last longer, whereas, storing a reed dry, the process of a reed being wet when you’re playing and drying it out and wet, and dry it out, is what wears a reed down.
So there’s two very good ways of storing reeds.
