Reed Adjusting Help

Basics - What to do every time you play

1. Soak the reed. The rule of thumb is about 5 minutes in room temperature or warm water. Cold water may not soak the reed as quickly, so if a water fountain is all that is available to you, consider soaking your reeds for several extra minutes. Regardless of the water temperature, the reed will soon reach equilibrium in your mouth with the stable temperature and moisture level.

2. Check the reed seal. After the reed is soaked, place one finger over the butt of the reed and suck air through the tip with your mouth. This causes the blades to slightly deform inwards and come together at the tip. For a normal reed, which should not leak air, the tip will "pop" open with a popping sound once the reed is removed from your mouth. If there is no popping sound, the air might be leaking through the inside of the reed. There are a number of possible locations for leaking. Although the seal has been checked multiple times during reed finishing, a leak may form and start to affect the response of the reed as the reed ages. (To be added: how to fix leaks.)

3. Crow the reed. Reed crowing means playing the reed without the bassoon. Place the fully soaked reed in your mouth, and with the loosest embouchure possible (with the lips just strong enough around the reed to prevent any air from escaping) set towards the back of the blades, gently blow air through the reed until the reed makes a sound. As you blow harder, the sound changes. In particular, the number of pitches a reed can produce may start from one pitch to two pitches, and then to three pitches; the goal is to find the right combination of air speed and embouchure pressure to produce three pitches while crowing. This procedure was taught to me by Mark Popkin and is outlined in Bassoon Reed Making by Popkin and Loren Glickman. Generally, a good reed has a point at which all three pitches are sounded. Try to find that point at the beginning of your practice/rehearsal to verify that nothing has gone drastically wrong with your reed, such as a crack; however, the reed could sound properly even when a third pitch is missing.