Finishing Those Reeds

Here it is, almost four months later, and I'm finally getting to the part about finishing the reeds -- meaning taking them from that cocoon stage that they are currently in -- and finishing them to a playable product!

This is the part that will take some time. You will need most of the same tools you used before, but this time, you will also need:

1. A block of wood (to protect your table or work surface from deep cuts). If you don't care about your table/surface, you are welcome to skip this. Sometimes, I cut against my knee (in times of need), so I use the block so I don't hack up my good pants/knees. A wood block can be purchased through double reed suppliers, or you can just use something like a cutting board if you are too cheap to buy one of these.


2. Reed Knife!

3. Pliers

4. Fingernail File

5. Exacto knife (unless you already cut in the shoulder/ledge/collar)

6. Plaque (bought from a distributor)

7. Time to spare (well.. kinda...). Once you get good at this stage, it might take you twenty minutes to get a reed playing decently well.

8.Cotton Crochet Thread (Buy some at a hobby store or steal it from your mother or grandmother). You can use nylon thread, but cotton is much easier on the hands.

With your reed on the end of your mandrel,

First, you'll need to soak up that dried-out piece of cane. Try and submerse it completely. It will need to be soaked on the inside as well as the outside for a uniform cut.

Take out your handy-dandy reed knife and wood block. Pull the reed from the water and shake out the excess. (Unless you like getting water everywhere. That's up to you). Cut about 1/4" or about 5 mm from the folded cane edge. Make sure this cut is as straight-across as you possibly can! I've had a few diagonal reeds that work well, but most have to be re-cut and fixed up and usually end up way too sharp to play with any decent group.

Now put your plaque in the opening at the tip of the bassoon reed. For now, rest the tip of your thumb against the side of the blade of the knife, hold the knife handle in your other hand and gently rock back and forth using your thumb as the fulcrum. The blade will rest against the cane with the not-sharp part against your thumb. Do not press down against the reed. You'll make your hands tired, compact the reed fibers, and may even dull your knife. None of these outcomes is desirable.


Your first task is to take cane from the two outer sections of your reed blade, creating a thumbnail shape when the reed is held to the light. Take more cane off from the outer extremities than the center, as we need plenty of "heart" to make the reed play well.

The goal is to get a near-white color from the outer corners with a darker center section (the heart). Next, you need to crow your reed. How does it sound? With certain combinations of gouge, shape, and profile, you may not have to do much of any kind of work on the reed at all. Others will require much more. If you get a good crow, you can then try it on your bassoon. If it doesn't fit your bocal, use the reamer to open the butt-end of the reed slightly. The reamer has a blade on it that will take some of the cane out of the inside of the reed.

Having listened to it, is it flat in pitch? Does it play with easy articulation? How is the pitch in the upper register? What does the bass register sound like? Each of these questions helps you figure out what to do next to your reed if it fails to work as you like.

1. Is the pitch flat? If the answer is yes, you will need to do the following:
>With the mandrel inside the end of the reed, pull the top wire with the pliers. Twist the ends of the wire slightly and fold it back down.Close the tip slightly with the pliers and pinch the second wire from the sides.
>If that didn't bring the pitch up enough, cut off about 1mm at a time until the pitch comes up. Don't cut too much at once and don't decide that it's too flat and keep cutting forever. Bad idea.

2. How is the articulation? Too hard?
>If the articulation on the reed is flabby or it is difficult to play quick, tongued passages, you will need to "whittle" the 1 mm from the tip on both blades of the reed.
>If the articulation is too soft, you won't really notice, I think... If it doesn't work right because it's to easy to tongue, clip the tip slightly (less than 1mm)

3. Upper register? Flat? Stiff? Unresponsive?
>If you can't hit the high notes of the bassoon, take a little more cane from the two diagonals on the sides of the reed. Remember not to scrape the heart! /o\

4. Bass register...
>Most of the problems with the bass register stem from articulation or tuning. If you can't tongue the bass register well, reference 2 above.
>If the tuning is an issue or if you cannot play piano or pianissimo in the low register, try "whittling" the lowest 2mm of the reed blade to loosen if up. Not too much, here, either, though! If you take too much out of this area, your whole reed can die!!

Over time, you will learn tricks as to where to shave, what to cut, where to avoid, etc, etc, etc. It takes time, practice, and some trial and error to get these things to play the first few times. I don't think I made a playable reed until my second year of college! Don't get discouraged. The website http://www.canit.se/~chrisdav/reedadj.html gives a great overview of places not/to scrape and otherwise. I love his diagrams and pictures. Much more informative than my wording, but you get the idea.

Good luck, and happy REEDING! :-D

Bored Rant

There's a little space between graduation and finding a job which is a hard place to find yourself in. Recently, I finished my student teaching, leaving me to really figure out which way I want to go next!

As long as I can remember, I've wanted to teach band, which thing I LOVE to do. Now, on the other hand, I also love to record music and perform it. This is that spot where I'm at now. While I love working with kids and being in the education scene, I also love doing the other things and would absolutely love to work with other professional musicians. When we went to China this summer, that's what we did -- play with a professional group. I was amazed at how well I could keep up with them, but then I realized that I'm a pretty good bassoon player!

This makes for all sorts of fun times, since I've got about another nine months before I'll have a serious full-time job, meaning that I need to look for other employment for the meantime. What shall I do? Long-term sub jobs come and go, I have seen a few band director positions open here and there, plus, in the middle of orchestra season, many professional orchestras are in full swing and do not need another bassoon player... Being bored is one thing, being broke is one thing, and looking for a job... well, that's a whole 'nother ball game altogether!

So, let's see... what to do in the spare time? I am learning to play the guitar, cooking all sorts of crazy stuff that my folks can't eat (special diets and stuff), and trying to fit into some kind of social niche here in town. Other things I'm into now? Video games, reading (yes! you read that correctly. I do read books), blogging, updating my website, possibly building websites for others, you know, the works. I'm finding things to do, but I'm also trying to figure out what direction the winds are going to take me. There's time mixed in here, too. Hmm...

On a completely unrelated note, my siblings should be back from overseas very soon! I'm excited to have them back in town and have someone to pal around with. Since Katy, Nicole, and Brandon left town, I haven't really had much to go off of. Oh, well. Life goes on.