Mark's Reed Tips and Bassoon Advice

There are low As throughout the Mahler Symphonies. Not all have them. They also are in one or more of the Strauss works and Wagner's Ring Cycle has one or two as I recall. It also appears in the woodwind quintet by Nielsen and Paul Chihara's Branches for two bassoons and percussion. I'm sure I've fagotten a few. Haha.

Some would take an English horn bell and stick it into the end of the bassoon in the Nielsen Quintet, or a rolled up piece of paper or cardboard tube. These work okay, but lack in resonance and good pitch. We always covered these low As with a piece of plastic plumbing drain pipe. I made a fancy matching set for Bob, Juan, Bonnie Cox and myself with a plastic base and metal end with a nice flair. It's fun to blast a low A. Peter Schickele, a bassoonist himself, wrote a low A solo in his Lip My Reeds for bassoon quartet. We are recording that with Leon Chodos and Mark assisting on the low A for Lip My Reeds which goes back and forth with low Bb. That's what we're doing in the photo and you can hear the results on our Escaped CD.Leon and Mark with low A

These "extensions" can be purchased too at Forrests Music, a double reed shop, but not as elegant as my design. http://www.forrestsmusic.com/cgi-bin/showcatalog.pl

I have no idea of the first use of the extensions, but it also applies to contrabassoon and I believe there may be a case of one written part that went to Ab for contra. Juan might know. There are probably those like me throughout history who wanted to get the low down. We did a Bassoon Brothers show where we did a contra Ab. Niel, you were there with the schreeching brakes in the Berlioz In the Country bit.

The Heckel bassoon company, founded in 1831, offers a second optional low A bell to go with the standard Bb on their bassoons These possibly dating before 1900 and they still have A bells available for contrabassoon. http://www.heckel.de/en/prod-contrabassoon.htm

The contra once owned by the Oregon Symphony, now at Lewis and Clark College has a low A bell and a C Bell on an instrument made by Mollenhauer. That was a common arrangement. The word probably got around Germany and the composers picked up on the low grumbling possibilities. Heckel is in Wiesbaden Germany. The Heckelphone is another oddity that shows up in some scores, something like the bass oboe. The development of this instrument was initiated by Wagner in 1879. See the comment here: http://www.heckel.de/en/prod-heckelphon.htm

As for the practice of using these in the Mahler scores. It is usually found in the 2nd, 3rd or 4th part. But I think I had at least one in the 1st. In some cases the bassoons are in octaves in these low A passages. If the A is preceded by a Bb it is not possible play Bb with the extenison in place. When this happens, the 1st bassoon can insert the extension and drop to play the low A so the Bb can be played by the (4th bsn?) who jumps up to cover the 1st"s A in the staff. So, we wrote in these things so we could play what was actually written.

Bassoonists will not be put out by doing the low As. It's fun and a challenge. If the low A is preceded by a low B, the tone on B is stuffy, but usually works okay. The extension does cause a change in the resistance of the instrument that can cause pitch problems. So, it's a good idea to get it in at the last possible chance and out as soon as possible. I always parked mine on a trumpet stand so I could make a quick grab.

You can buy the plumbing at a hardware store in plastic or metal for a couple bucks. It's easier to cut the plastic to the proper length. We've done extension well below A with plumbing pipe just for fun.

Now you know more than you ever wanted to know about low As.

A Guide for the Beginning Player, Parents and Band Directors

Warning: Bassoon reeds are fragile, frustrating and expensive.

For anyone contemplating taking up the bassoon be aware that it’s going to be more costly than playing sax or clarinet, and for the majority of you, the reeds will be frustrating. Why? Because if you don’t have a decent performer/teacher of bassoon who makes and adjusts reeds as an advisor, you will be a the mercy of music store bassoon reeds. Many players (and some of my students) are perfectly happy with store bought reeds and unless you come up against technical challenges that hold you back, you won't seek out the alternatives. My motto has been I’m only as good as my reed allows me to be. I’ve spent a lot of time trying to find the perfect reed. And I teach all my students how to evaluate and adjust the reed using my published methods. But in an instant, poof...it might crack and be a goner. Such is the life of a bassoonist. Start the search for the next one BEFORE you need it. Always have several good ones on hand. Since the reed cane itself varies so much in quality it you may find that only 1 in 5 reeds is acceptable and for professional players it may be 1 in 25 or more!

Music Store Bassoon Reed Manufacturers

There are a number of U.S. manufacturers who crank out many thousands of bassoon reeds every year. Names such as La Voz, Jones Double Reeds, Rico Reeds, Emerald Reeds, Meason Reeds, HMK, Chartier, Stevens and others. These companies (and some others) sell directly to your local band instrument store or internet band instrument suppliers. There are also companies from around the world who mass produce reeds which may also find their way to the store shelf.

What Bassoon Reeds Cost

You can find reeds at a discount on the internet for as low as $9.00 (usually from the manufacturers listed above) and through double reed specialty shops for as high as $30.00 each. A local bassoonist may sell reeds for less to his students.

Bassoon Reeds Come in a Variety of Shapes and Sizes, Strengths and Models

Like a single reed mouthpiece the double reed has a number of variables that effect the reed's vibration. But with a single reed mouthpiece the internal geometry of the mouthpiece is constant with the strength and cut of the reed as the variable with many different single reed designs and manufacturers available.

The bassoon reed is the mouthpiece as well as the strength and cut of the reed. Double trouble! The recipe of the vibration and the success and comfort in playing depends on finding the right reed for YOU and your instrument. It’s also helpful to learn how to adjust a reed rather than just play them as is. (Another article) Most public school bassoons provided or rented to students leak or are in bad shape. (This is the subject of another article) The reed’s vibration may have to overcome the bassoon’s flaws (cheap, poorly designed instrument) or leakage when the keys are closed. This IS the case with over 90% of school bassoons I’ve seen. With a bad bassoon that leaks, who’s going to have fun playing on that instrument?

A Beginner Bassoon Reed

The Fox bassoon company who manufactures the Renard student model bassoons includes two polymer (plastic) bassoon reeds with every new bassoon sold. The plastic reeds made by Bob Stevens are available from Fox Products and work very well having the right recipe of vibration for a beginning student reed. The reed does not need to be immersed in water to play and not subject to mold and mildew that destroys cane reeds. However, the plastic reed can split or crack in the blade and is just as fragile if bumped dropped. Cost of these reeds currently from Fox Products is $13.95 (2008).

Do polymer reeds sound good when played? Certainly not as mellow as a cane reed, but the trade off is worthwhile to get a young player going. As the player develops, experiments with cane reeds of various types should come into play.

Many band directors buy reeds to have on hand for students who need a new reed in band class. If your band director supplies reeds, he should have a few polymer reeds on hand. And if the cane reeds all sag on E natural or don't hold up well, let him know it’s time to try reeds from another source.

Characteristics of Some Store Bought Reeds

Store bought reeds are generally quite wide at the tip of the reed, and have a large internal throat between the two wires and are non-rounded interior. They are mass produced and most have a short playing life. These reeds produce a flabby loud vibration that might help overcome some of the leaky bad bassoon difficulties. But the downside of that kind of reed vibration are two common problems student bassoonists encounter: an unstable E (3rd space bass clef) and a flat and often pinched sound in the upper register notes. Theses notes may also “croak” (see MY Notes Pop Down) These problems come from a reed that plays too flat and doesn’t have sufficient resistance to blow against. The player must “bite” the reed and develops bad “embouchure” habits (how you form your lips around the reed) of gripping the reed to close to the tip. Some manufacturers stamp the reed’s hardness on the blade. I’ve seen reeds marked as medium hard or hard fail the E test.

Finding the right reed is a matter of experimentation or getting a recommendation from someone experienced enough to know the difference between a good and bad reed for you and your bassoon. Reeds come in different external shapes of the blade. The blade’s belly can be concave, straight, convex, or a combination. The interior “throat” can be small to large, rounded or a flat oval, or distorted by poor reed construction techniques. It should be at least symmetrical when you look through the end that fits onto the bassoon’s metal bocal (crook). For success you’ll need to find the right match for YOU... AND your bassoon.

Reeds also have a tapered blade profile cut down into the reed material that can be quite thin at the tip and thick at the back near the wire or the reverse with many, many variations of how the surface of the reed’s blade taper is contoured. We call this the blade profile, scrape or lay. Many store bought reeds take too much cane out of the front of the reed blade to get them to vibrate strongly. One of my mottos is this: Thin tips sink ships! Meaning, the E is going to sink or sag down to Eb if you play it loudly.

All of the variables, reed shape, blade strength (hardness), throat size and adds up to whether you will be able to play in tune with a good tone quality. If this is a constant struggle with the reeds you use. Get another reed style.

Common Problems with Store Bought Reeds

Besides the playing problems you might encounter above there are other concerns.

A Beginning Bassoon

If you are a band director or a parent looking at whether to buy a new beginner bassoon and you have only $2,500 to spend DO NOT buy a cheap wooden bassoon. I’ve seen a number of unplayable Ebay bassoon disasters with local bargain hunters. If you know what you are looking at, and are willing to spend money for repairs you might get lucky. Better to wait a year save up and spend more to get a Renard model 41 polypropelene bassoon or model 51 (for small hands stripped down model 41). Virtually impossible to find used. MOST of the big names in band instrument manufacturing (and not so big) don’t measure up to the Renard instruments. You get what you pay for and the player’s success depends on a good instrument as well as a consistent source of good reeds. Rent a bassoon? At least $100.00 a month for something decent if you can even find one. Not likely.

How to Handle Reeds and Reed Care

As mentioned above bassoon reeds are fragile and you can split the blade easily rendering the reed unplayable. See article on how many reeds.

With cane reeds, there are a number of DON’TS:

• Don’t drop them.
• Don’t squeeze them unless they’ve been wetted.
• Don’t store wet reeds in airtight plastic containers or mold and mildew will form in or on the surface of the reed. (Most store reeds come in such containers.)
• Don’t leave the reed on the instrument when you are not playing it. It might get bumped if you leave it on the chair or bassoon case. Hold in your mouth or set somewhere safe. (My cat chews on them)
• Don’t let your reed get dirty on the inside or out. Drop in hydrogen peroxide once a week and let the crud bubble away. Ultrasonic jewelry cleaners work well too or run a folded over soft pipe cleaner through from the butt end of the reed out the tip swing it right and left. Don’t reverse the pipe cleaner back through the tip. If you get a build up on the outside scrape it off careful with your fingernail or reed knife. Chicken fat seems to stick on the reed.
• Don’t play the same reed day in and day out until it dies. Rotate your reeds and save the best one for performances.
• Don’t over-soak the reed in water. Immerse the reed to get it wet. Just run water over it, or wet it in your mouth. Over-soaking shortens the life of the reed, weakening it or choking it.
• Don’t store your reed in an airtight reed case on solid metal or plastic pins. The reed’s interior will not dry out.
• Don’t overlook learning how to make simple adjustments to the reed.
• Don't have just one reed.
• Don't keep all your reeds in one place. Keep your best reeds in a good reed case and a few extras in your bassoon case, just in case you leave your reed case at home or on the stand somewhere.

Sources for Professional Quality Reeds

While it is possible to find reeds that work well for you from the music store, you are more likely to located quality reeds from a professional reed maker or double reed specialty store. Before taking on the task of learning how to make your own, find out what it’s like to play on a good hand made reed. Reeds of my design are available in 9 different reeds shapes from Arundo Reeds and Cane and Forrests music, which has a number of other hand made and player tested reeds. Other sources of professional quality bassoon reeds are Charles Double Reeds and Vigder Reeds. All these companies have been producing professional quality reeds for many years. The International Double Reed Society has listings for many other reed makers.

Contacting local bassoonists who teach private lessons is another source for reeds, as most make reeds to sell to their students. My first bassoon teacher grew tired of giving me a great reed only to find that I broke it before making it to the next lesson. He finally said, I would have really enjoyed playing on that reed and you trashed it. I’m not going to make them any more for you. It’s time you learned to do it yourself. Being lazy I headed down to buy them at the music store. I struggled and suffered as a result. Then learned to make reeds. I had played on great reeds, so I knew what a great reed felt like to play.

Many bassoonists never really know…

Below is a list of the top rated auditon pieces used by professional symphony orchestras. If your goal is to play in a symphony, you will eventually be called upon to audition on one or more of these. All are difficult bassoon solos or technical passages. Some are technically difficult, some musically difficult and others difficult for both.

You should begin practicing these if you are a serious bassoonist well before you are ever asked to audition. Bassoon solo excerpt books and collections of the complete parts are available through double reed specialty shops and sheet music stores. Listen to recordings to get a sense of how the part fits into the musical landscape and record yourself playing the excerpts to get some feedback. Advice from an experienced symphony bassoonist in private lessons could reveal some tricks of the trade for special fingerings that help in the sticky passages.

(More specifics on these solos and what makes them difficult to follow at a later date.)

1. Mozart--Marriage of Figaro Overture

2. Ravel--Bolero

3. Tchaikovsky--Symphony #4

4. Beethoven--Symphony #4

5. Ravel--Piano Concerto in G

6. Tchaikovsky--Symphony #6

7. Bartok--Concerto for Orchestra

8. Rimsky-Korsakov--Sheherazade

9. Stravinsky--Rite of Spring

10. Berlioz--Symphonie Fantastique

Top Solo Concerto: Mozart

A partial list of additional bassoon excerpts commonly used in auditions:

Bach Suites, Beethoven Symphonies, Brahms Symphonies and Violin Concerto, Mozart Piano Concertos and Symphonies (espeically #35 and 41), Tchaikovsky Symphony #5, Wagner Overture to Tannhauser, Shostakovich Symphonies (especially #9), all works of Stravinsky, Strauss, Ravel, Mahler, Prokofiev Classical Symphony, Peter and the Wolf.

Start a listening library

Hear some bassoon excerpts here: http://musiced.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=musiced&cdn=...

Buying a used bassoon can be treacherous.

Your best bet is to buy a Fox bassoon.

Fox Bassoon

What are the basics of tuning a bassoon reed?

In the simplest terms you manipulate the length, strength and scrape of the reed blade. The reed blade being defined as the distance from the tip of the reed to the front of the first wire. The design of the reed is also a huge factor, the gouge, blade profile and reed shape, but that's another subject for more advanced players to consider.

What is the correct blade length?

What often determines the correct blade length is stability on key notes such as one finger E (3rd space bass clef) with proper pitch on all the other notes. Blades that are too long or reeds that lack sufficient strength often go flat on this E if played loudly.

There is no correct length but blade length can range from 27 to 30 mm to the wire. This depends largely on the style of reed and the amount of force the player uses in blowing. Generally if you use strong breath support with thicker blades you can use longer lengths. My reeds range from 28-28.5 mm and if my reeds don't work for me at that length I set them aside. I know that my embouchure will tire or I will play out of tune if I'm way off from my blade length preference.

Some teachers insist on using a set length. This dogma makes for difficulties. When I first started making reeds my teacher told me to make all my blades exactly 1 inch in length. How wrong he was. He had me measuring from the tip of the blade to the ledge where the scrape ends sloping up to the bark, not to the wire. The space between the 1st wire varied from reed to reed (we call that space the collar), so my reeds all played quite differently. I had to reinvent my embouchure with every reed. Bummer.

So if my reeds all go flat on E what do I do? You mentioned both length and strenth.

Yes, the blade needs more strength to support the E. So, you can try reshaping the wires somewhat with pliers to make the inside of the reed's tube more rounded giving the blade more arch and structural strength. Squeeze the second wire from the sides and then follow by squeezing the 1st wire from the sides. Check that the tip opening doesn't get too wide or close up completely when you're done.

If that doesn't do it, then the length of the reed blade from the tip to the wire must now be manipulated. If the 1st wire near the blade has slipped back toward the 2nd it should be repositioned. If it's so loose that it won't stay the wire must be tightened with small pliers. Sometimes that's enough to fix the sagging E. If not, you have a choice of moving the wire closer to the tip if the collar is wide or clip some of the tip of the reed away. A third choice is to narrow the width of the reed shape at the tip by sanding or filing the "rails" where the two blade halves come together. If a reed is extremely wide across the tip you may need to do this along with clipping.

By clipping the reed tip back or narrow the reed tip blade you are giving the blade more strength because it is thicker at the tip. If you keep clipping and clipping but the E keeps sagging, the cane is probably too soft. Also the design of the reed may not be right for you with a throat diameter that is too big around. So you might want to try different reed makers. Many reeds purchased from music stores are poorly constructed. I recently purchased three reeds made by three diffeent manufacturers with all labeled medium hard. All three reeds failed to play a stable E and the blades weren't too long! No wonder so many of you are suffering with your reeds making it difficult to enjoy your bassooning..

Do store reeds come in different lengths as well as strengths?

No. If you buy from a reed maker who sells them directly to you it's possible. The company that I started called Arundo Reeds and Cane will do that. Reeds purchased from music stores can't offer you lengths and apparently don't really control the strength either. However, there is at least one music strore reed that has a strong blade. But this might cause frustration for a beginning player who has to work too hard to blow it. In this case sanding it down until it blows freely is easier than clipping and then having to rescrape for other notes that go out if you clip a lot off.

How should I approach clipping the tip? Is there an easy way to do it?

The easiest way is to buy an expensive reed clipper which are available from double reed supply specialty shops. There are clipping devices and nippers sometimes referred to as precision end cutters. That's what I use, but the really good jewelers end nippers cost about $75.00. The old fashioned way to cut tips was to purchase a billot made of wood and take your reed scraping knife and cut through the reed tip as it laid across the billot. Big problem with these though, is that the top of the billot is curved and it's way, way hard to cut a straight tip. Some will file or sand the billot top until it's flat and wide enought for the tip of the reed. That's better, but I don't recommend using a billot and knife.

The poor man's version of the reed tip clip is very effective and cheap. Buy a large thick guitar pick with a smooth surface on both sides and a single edge razor blade. Place the guitar pick on a flat surface, lay the reed tip on the guitar pick, align the razor blade with the tip with the amount of tip you want to cut off and press the razor blade straight down into the guitar pick. It's always best to take very small amounts off the tip and test your results than take too much off in one shot and have a reeed now too strong needing scrapes or sanding of the reed's blade.

How much does the scrape of the reed's blade need to be manipulated?

That depends on your needs. Do the low notes speak, do the middle notes croak, do you tire or play out of tune, are oher notes unstable?

At the very least the reed should be stable and the note next to the one finger E, the forked Eb, should not be sharp if fingered with only the first and third finger of the left hand with the whisper key. No added keys in either hand.

If you are having problems you'll need to know how to fix these things if you want to advance as a bassoonist. I tell my students that it's more important to know how to adjust a reed than to make one. Find a good reed maker whose reed style and reed shape works for you. Check out my reed tuning publications which are available from double reed specialty shops and Arundo Reeds and cane. Good luck with all your reeds.

Question from Greg, a student of Mark Eubanks:

I have been focusing on reeds as opposed to the exercises and have some questions. I am using your book as my main resource. Right now, I have a reed which I think is a great reed. I am able to go through the warm-up routine (all of it!) without flicking and croaking. I have some questions, though.

This reed passed Objective #1 (pg. 14). On Objective #2 Eb was sharp so I added the 2nd finger and Bb key r.h. It was in tune at that time. Am I supposed to scrape regardless of the correction or can I move on to Objective #3 (Tuning Harmonics)? I went into Objective #3 and everything seemed fine. At Objective #4 (the Ab/Bb trill test) I am not sure if I am doing the fingerings correctly because I am getting a gargling sound on the trill Bb. I don’t want to do any correction to the reed because it seems to be doing so well in spite of this problem. I have not gone on to Objective #5 and 6. Is it required to go into Objectives #5 and 6 (if the reed is responding well) to go on and make necessary corrections? Does every reed have to go through the entire circle of objectives?

On the flip side, I have the reed which I used at my last lesson and you spent time adjusting it. Here is what I ran into with this one. It did not pass Objective #1 and was flat on all four notes. I kept clipping reluctantly until I got it to play in tune on high C# and F. However, it measures at 26 mm! It played real hard so I scraped the sides (a to c) and tried to bevel the tip (b to a area) like you have done in lessons for me. I did overlap scrapes on the tip like you have described in the book. It played easier. Is this the right approach for a stiff reed after clipping it? What is your analysis of all this. Am I on the right track?!

Answer:

I’m glad you’re now into the reed tuning with my Advanced Reed Design and Testing Procedure. You’ve presented some really good questions. I appreciate you taking the time to work through these tests. As a bassoonist I feel your pain. These things do need further explanation and clarification. I’ll post this response on the website and these things will find their way into my next reed tuning publications. A minor dissertation resulted from the questions. I’m trying to be thorough and perhaps help some others with questions along the path. Thanks.

You are on the “right path” because you are now looking into the cause and effect of the reed’s scrape. Success and failure in the bassoon world is MORE about mastering the reed technique than anything else. I used to bulldoze my way through the music with “unfinished” and unrefined reeds causing both a disservice to the music and personal embarrassment. Tenor sax chops and youthful strength. Because of my many reed failures in my younger years, I sought answers and methods to tune reeds. It was sink or swim in the Seattle Symphony. I started my reed manufacturing company as a laboratory to test my theories and techniques. Some bassoonists are able to intuitively scrape the reed in the right places. I was not. I didn’t know how to properly sharpen and use a reed knife either which caused frustration and failure.

Here’s how I pick my reeds. I always start by eliminating any reed that won’t slur back and forth over the break from E2 to C3 in Objective 5 without flicking. If I’ve clipped to length that is shorter than my standard length then it’s eliminated from current candidates. (I may come back later and move the wire back if I’ve run out of candidates.) Before this first test, I’ve made sure that all my candidates have gone through several soak and dry cycles and I’ve broken down the back of the reed. The reed doesn’t “yawn” when water hits it. In other words it has settled and has a normal tip opening size.

Generally in the reed testing, if the reed is close to meeting any test or objective then it’s okay to move on. When the reed doesn’t even come close to passing the tests or objectives there are going to be insurmountable problems later . I’ll go through several rounds of testing with my candidates. The reed needs to settle into it’s new structure by drying out too. The warp is going to change in the reed’s arch. It may play completely different tomorrow, so never rush to finish the reed. That’s where most reed makers fail. They have one reed going and it needs to work today.

For me, the most important final objective is the clear Ab/Bb trill of Objective 4. If it is working, the forked Eb always works too. I’ve played on reeds that gargle on the Ab/Bb trill, but the BEST reeds will pass that test. Not all reeds are capable of reaching that level of performance. If the reed plays the fork Bb of Test 4 I’m usually okay unless I’m needing a pianissimo reed in all registers. I do think it is important to have the bare forked Eb close to pitch on Objective 2 without the extra keys. Take care not to scrape too much in area d. Concentrate the scraping in the “upper triangle” formed between points e to a in the upper part of the line d-e.

To maintain good pitch in pianissimo playing I also need the reed to play the harmonic tests “in tune” as close as possible. I’ll usually fine tune these at the end if I’m going ahead with this reed. I’ll also recheck these before every performance, scraping usually to get “dead lip” of the blade in those places or if I’m feeling too much resistance or lack of response on a particular note. Chicken fat is the worst pollutant that must be scraped off. It seems to stick no matter how much I brush my teeth before a performance.

The tests and objectives in my method do NOT need to be followed in any particular order. The new (unpublished) book’s method starting with the open F comparisons (ear plugging tests) working down the scale does follow an orderly procedure up to a certain point. This is done to avoid mistakes and get the reed playing well in the low register before moving on. The current publication assumes that you are starting with a reed that actually plays. There are some anomalies in reed tuning causing problems for some that I will address in the next publication. We must ask the question: Is it me, the reed or the instrument or bocal that’s causing my problems? The marvelous thing (or frustrating depending on the view) about the bassoon is that there are many layers of difficulties that must be addressed.

Does the reed need to go through or pass the entire circle of tests? NO. The level you reach with the objectives depends on what you need at that moment. If I’m looking for a low register solo reed it’s not going to pass Objective 6. It may be okay on the G but forget the high C test. This same low register reed may not pass objective 5 as well. So I might look for a reed that fails Objective 5 if I’m playing Peter and the Wolf or looking for a reed for the opening of Tchaikovsky’s 6th. If I need a special high register reed it’s not going to pass low note and other tests. The croaking reed is always the big problem. You’ll often need to try everything to clear it up.

Obviously, some reeds are NOT going to make it no matter what you do with it. Flip side, some reeds are going to play great no matter how poorly the reed was formed or how crudely it’s been adjusted. Some reeds will be too soft for high register playing of any kind and some reed will be so hard that you can’t come close to getting go vibration on the low notes. Knowing how to evaluate and/or eliminate reeds early on saves time. Some reeds are going to be ready to play now, others may not be ready for several years until they’ve settled and/or stiffened.

The biggest frustration for beginning reed makers is that they want the reed that they just spend the last hour constructing to play right now. Not every piece of cane is going to make it, especially if they rush it. I’ve spent countless hours working a reed to DEATH, when I should have looked for another or just come back to it later. I may have told you that I actually discourage learning reed MAKING by high school students, but rather reed tuning and adjusting. Not everyone can make a proper reed, nor do we have time to make enough of them to find the magic piece of cane that will do it all. Players of single reed instruments are much better off aren’t they? Open a new box of reeds and give each one a quick toot. You know immediately if you’ve got a reed. As they break in they only get weaker. They don’t change radically during break in. The expense of buying a box of double reeds is daunting, but time spent making them without sufficient knowledge of the causes and effects of failure at the end of the line has ruined many a fine player. Some pro players have been known to buy 50-100 reeds at a time rather than waste time better spent on practice.

I’ve been after you to use more variation in the air speed, especially better support and faster air speed in the overblown second octave. Because you have a tendency to under support, a shorter reed length makes sense for you and may be the way to go. Some pro players use 26-27 mm blade lengths who play a certain type of reed. Also a reed with really soft cane isn’t going to pass any test in the middle or upper register until it is quite short, so that’s part of it too. As I recall the reed I worked on the other days was terribly out of balance in terms of one blade compared to the other with one very strong and arched and the other flat and weak. I scraped the hell out of the strong side. This anomaly in the structure of the reed can throw everything out of whack. The tests and objectives may not work. That’s why it’s important to have the balance of both blades the same at the beginning which shows by the symmetry of the tip opening and closure. The thumb nail pressed into the blade as a strength test shows a lot. Balance everything first. Then proceed with tuning adjustments. Croaking reeds has much to do with balance too. Have you looked at my 1982 publication Arundo Reed Test Procedures which address the tip opening/closure issue as well as simple reed tests?

Any time you scrape to rebalance the reed you run the risk of having to clip the tip. Once you’ve clipped the reed it is usually going to be too heavy somewhere and fail a test or objective. That’s just the way it is. Especially if you take too much off the tip. So yes, it has to start over with rescraping and testing every objective and test. This frustration can lead to random scraping or scraping without reviewing what IS working. Patience and retesting are key.

Have you yet found the reed shape and scrape that is right for you? As a single reed player how many types of mouthpieces from different manufacturers, made of different materials with different baffle heights, throat opening shapes and sizes of chambers have you tried with different lays and tip openings? And then how many different single reed manufacturers reeds have you tried with there different styles and strengths? As single reed players we’ve tried lots of this and swapped with other players to find the combination that works. I forgot ligatures.

As bassoon students we are often stuck with what our teacher “preaches”. Reeds, bocals and instruments. I’ve made the mistake of forcing my reed on students. I’ve said many times that the teacher can be the worst enemy. We’re all different. That’s why I ended up selling nine different reed shapes, and two gouges with unfortunately, only one profile. That’s the one profile that works for me.

So many young bassoonists are failing to enjoy the bassoon because of crappy music store reeds. Do pro players use these? NO. Can these store reeds be adjusted? In some cases the answer is YES.

Hi. I just recently started playing bassoon this past summer and I have a problem with my notes popping down when I'm not using the whisper key...what's my problem? Answer:

Unstable notes in the second octave is one of the most frustrating problems for beginning bassoonists. Let's say that is not an easy thing to correct without seeing and hearing what you are doing. It can be the reed, the embouchure, the amount of breath support and air speed as well as problems with the instrument and bocal.

Some of us call this problem "croaking". It is an inherent problem with the acoustics of the bassoon. The whisper key is not a true octave key, so when you let it off, there is no guarantee that the notes will go up to the desired note or stay there. ( There is a modification to traditional keywork that make a true octave key out of the whisper key if you have an extra $3,000.00 to have it installed. Very few have, but I'm thinking about it.)

The reed. If the blade of the reed is too long, or the reed is too thick at (or just behind) the tip, this can be part of the problem. You can thin the extreme tip of the reed with sandpaper. Often reeds which are too soft or worn out are too weak to play easily in the second octave.

When you play in the second octave with the whisper key off you must blow a faster, more focused and cooler air stream. The tongue inside the mouth should change to a higher position more like whistling than saying "ahh".

The vent hole in the bocal must be checked to see that it is not clogged. Is the instrument in good condition?

If none of the above help stabilize the reed, you must hold down one of the appropriate true octave keys above the C# key for the unstable note. Some bassoons have two octave keys, better horns have three. The first one above C# is held down for A (top line) and Bb, the next for B and C and the top one (if you have it) is for C# and D. If you hold down the correct octave key for the note and have sufficient air speed when you blow, the note will be clear and not croak.

Bassoonist learn to flick these keys to start the note or when slurring over the break to these notes or slurring down to these notes from above to be sure the right note comes out. The left thumb must learn where to go to find these keys as this is one of the most important elements of bassoon playing. As professional players, if we have any question that a note might croak, we hit or hold down the appropriate "octave key" every time.

Dear S, To answer your question about how many reeds should Daniel have? The reed issue is what our lives as bassoonists is about. The reeds change with the weather and the season and can break if dropped or bumped and crack for no obvious reason. Therefore, one can never have too many reeds. You never know when your favorite might be a "goner". Usually three to six reeds that are playing can cover it. Some reeds wear out quickly, and others will play for months if kept clean and are dried out thoroughly in between playing sessions. Incidentally, the type of reed case that Daniel has will shorten reed life. Air cannot circulate through the wet reed placed on solid pins. A different/better reed case with good air circulation into and through the reed and case will help. When I was a senior in high school I won the solo concerto competition with the Tacoma Youth Philharmonic. On the evening of the concert my reed cracked nearly down the middle. I had only the one "playable" reed in my case and was forced to play through the biggest bassoon moment of my life with a destroyed reed. It was an embarrassment. Let's say it wasn't pretty. Daniel already has experienced the sudden loss of a "friend" when his reed was bumped in Seattle. Fortunately, he had a back up reed that was playable. He should not only have a case full of playable reeds at all times, but a "backup box" of playable reeds in a separate case for emergencies when the reed case is left at home or lost or the current reeds are not working well. (His current reed case could work for that.) The backup box stays in the case at all times. I keep the oldies (but goodies) in my case for emergencies as I have described above and do need to use them occasionally. I actually have several boxes including new reeds that I can finish scraping if needed. I believe making reeds in batches helps with consistency of the process. Making batches of reeds will work only if he has enough mandrel tips to heat them all at the same time. I think that's the problem. The reed needs to stay rubberbanded to the mandrel tip for a day after the heating. If he has multiple mandrel tips he can form the reeds and when they are all put together place them all in the oven at the same time. If he needs more tips we can fix that. As not all cane is created equal, and the variations of reed making is a curse of inconsistency, we need to make many reeds to find one that has the golden sound and response. When he finds a really good reed, he should try to copy its dimensions with his next reeds too. With a solo contest on the way this is the time to make as many reeds as possible. A few reeds per week for the time being. They need time to "settle" and scrape into playing well in advance of the contest. The reeds change during the first week or two of playing. With a comfortable "broken in" reed, the playing experience is much more pleasurable. Then he can concentrate on making music. Regards, Mark