Visual Cues for Choosing a Good Reed

Whether you are picking out reeds at a music store, or choosing a reed from your reed case, here is a reminder of 6 visual cues to help you choose a good reed.

1. Check the reed blade for chips or cracks.  Avoid buying a reed with a chipped or cracked blade and throw away any cracked reeds in your case.
2. Make sure the end of the tube (the part that will go on the bocal) is completely round and has no gaps or thin spots in the wall of the tube.
3. Choose a reed with a symmetrical tip opening.  It will be more consistent across registers and dynamics.
4. Check the sides of the two blades to make sure they line up. If the side of one blade sticks out beyond the other blade the reed will probably leak.
5. Make sure the string wrapping or other binding (heat shrink tubing, hot glue, wax) is snug.  The reed will leak around the bocal if the binding is loose.
6. The grain of the cane should be smooth and there should be no splinters of cane in the tube or along the sides of the blades.

Reed Strength

Commercial reeds and even some handmade reeds are generally sold according to their level of strength or hardness.  Reed strength is a measure of the resistance you have to blow against, and how much lip pressure the reed requires to play.  There are five categories of reed strength.

• Soft (very easy to blow but will close up with any more than light embouchure pressure).
• Medium Soft (easy to blow, will close up with moderate embouchure pressure).
• Medium (requires more air and embouchure, closes with strong embouchure).
• Medium Hard (requires good breath support, moderate embouchure pressure, and firm articulation).
• Hard (requires strong breath support, strong embouchure pressure, and firm articulation).

I do not recommend buying reeds in the soft or hard categories until you have tried reeds in the middle categories. Start with a medium reed and a medium hard reed and see which gives you the best response, intonation, and tone quality.

• When starting on bassoon with no previous wind instrument experience I suggest starting on a medium reed.
• When transferring from another instrument, especially from clarinet or saxophone, I recommend starting on a medium hard reed.
• If you’ve been playing bassoon for a while and want to try another brand of reed, I suggest trying a medium-hard reed in the new brand.

You might need to move up a category as your embouchure and breath support muscles develop.  If the reed makes your embouchure gets tired quickly (after only 5-10 minutes of playing) you can either adjust the reed or try a softer reed.