Extending the Life of your Reeds

Since oboe reeds are made on organic material which is heavily manipulated and placed under tremendous pressure, (hello La Scala..) their lifespan can be rather short. On average, an oboe reed will play for eight hours, though some reeds last quite a bit longer. Here are some ways to ensure you are able to get the most life from your reed possible:

Rotate your reeds

• Rather than relying on one reed until it is dead, rotate between several reeds at a time, for example playing the same reed every third day. 
• Break in a new one when your favorite reed is at its peak.
• Use your fundamentals/warm up time to break in a new reed and use an older reed for woodshedding.

Store them correctly

• Clear excess moisture from the reed when you are done playing by blowing gently through the end of the staple.
• Store them in a proper reed case when not playing. The case should allow some air flow and hold the reed steady.

Prepare your reeds to play thoughtfully

• Soak your reeds only in water, never saliva which will break down the cane faster.
• Consider how long your reed should be soaked, over-soaking or under-soaking will have an impact on how you play the reed and may lead to over-manipulation with your embouchure which will wear out the reed faster or cause it to wear down unevenly.

Prevent buildup on your reeds

• Older reeds get bogged down with the particles of food/chapstick/dead skin cells that come into contact with it.
  
• Brushing your teeth before you play and not wearing sticky lipgloss/chapstick while playing will  eliminate some of the gunk that will naturally accumulate on and in the reed.

Clean the gunk out of older reeds

•  If you have a plaque, you can very gently scrape the inside of each blade on a soaked reed to clear out the buildup on the inside of the reed. I have also seen this done with a pipe cleaner through the bottom of the staple.
• With hot water running in your sink, you can gently rub your fingers from the bottom to the top of the reed and wipe off some buildup.

The suggestions above are good way to ensure you are getting the most from each reed you play on, but should never cause you to rely on older/worn out reeds when it is simply time for a fresh reed. Future posts will provide insights on how to "freshen up" an older reed through scraping if you are a student who is making reeds along with more specific reed making guides and information!