Any post related to reeds
We talk a lot about reeds needing to be changed regularly when they’re being played. What we don’t usually think about, however, if whether you can keep a reed indefinitely if you’re not using it. Do reeds go out of date or not and does it depend on the conditions they’re kept in? I was curious so had a look into it and I’ve written up what I found here.
Continue reading “Do reeds have an expiry date?”
If you’ve been playing a reed instrument for quite a few years, you might think you start to notice trends between the time of year, i.e. the season, and how well the reeds play. I’ve found this before and thought it was probably just a coincidence. I decided to look into it and see if there was any science behind it and found some interesting points.
Continue reading “Do Cane Reeds Play Better in Summer?”
One of the difficult things to work out as a single reed player is what strength reed you should buy. If you’re a beginner, you might not know where to start and it can really affect your playing if you end up with a reed that’s completely the wrong strength. There isn’t one right answer for everyone, but I’ll talk about the sort of thing you should pay attention to when choosing a reed and some of the best ways to go about it.
Continue reading “What Strength Single Reed Do I Need?”
Buying reeds for a single reed instrument can be really confusing – there are so many different makes of reed, and even within one make there can be a huge amount of choice! It’s especially difficult when the reeds all have different names that don’t necessarily describe the style of playing they’re designed for. I did some investigating on this topic and put together a list of which reeds are intended for which styles of playing (classical, jazz etc.).
Continue reading “Which Reed Is Best For Which Playing Styles?”
Everyone talks about the different types of reed – classical reeds, jazz reeds etc. and how their sounds vary, but not about the differences in how they are made. It can seem like the different variations are just there to make you spend more money trying all the options a particular supplier provides. I decided to look into this in more detail and discovered a lot about reed-making and how the construction of a reed can influence its sound.
Continue reading “How Are Classical and Jazz Reeds Different?”