Let's talk Reeds

Let's go back to basics and revisit reeds. I have met many good players who don't get the best out of their instrument because they don't look after their reed properly. It is blindingly obvious, but needs saying anyway, that soaking your reed in spit will leave it with a thick residue if you don't clean it after you have finished. You really MUST take your reed off the mouthpiece and wipe it DRY before storing it.
You can 'wake up' an older reed up by licking it thoroughly and wiping it dry and then bending it back gently on the flat of your thigh.
I have not tried every reed on the market but I have my own views. Some makes of reeds feel 'dry' and give you a breathier, more mellow sound. I think the La Voz, Rico Jazz and Vandoren Java reeds fall into this category. Rico, Rico Royal and Vandoren Classic give a more cutting sound. I find the La Voz go duff quite quickly - though might have been the harvest; at the moment I am using the Rico Jazz and the new Rico Reserve.

A thin reed will make the low notes easier to play but make the high notes hard to reach and rather screechy. The wailing, roaring sax sound of the pop solos tend to be on thinner reeds. Beginners tend to be given a thin reed but it doesn't always help them because it is harder to play in tune and leads some players to have poor intonation for many years.

A thick reed will be louder, make the bottom notes hard to play quietly but make the high notes much more achievable and even toned. Hard reeds may give you great volume and a more consistent tone across the tesitura but they are also hard work. Playing a reed that is too hard will simply make your lip 'go' and is therefore no good for gigs.

Reeds change from season to season because of the quality of the harvest - there are definitely good years and bad years. It is therefore a good idea to keep experimenting with reeds to find the best one.

Final tip: keep your reeds organised and in a box. Throw away old reeds because otherwise you get to the stage when you think that you have got plenty of new reeds left and they turn out to be all old ones.

You can buy new reeds on line here: http://tinyurl.com/af5kk6

Introduction

This blog will take experienced sax players though some tips and exercises that will help them to become better players. I am assuming about a Grade 6 level of skill. I will discuss advanced techniques that turn a 'beginner' sound into the roaring, passionate sound that so many people loved when they took up the instrument but have yet to find on their own instrument.
More about me? Check out http://members.sibeliusmusic.com/AndyHampton