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Re: Soaking Reeds

Author: oboeblank
Date: 2004-06-29 15:31

I would not suggest soaking your reeds tip down in a cup of water. The tip is the most sensitive part of the reed and to leave it stading in water can damage the tip. Never leave it just sitting in water either, that can make it unplayable if you need that 'back-up" reed in a pinch. I have seen too many young oboe players bash a reed on their teeth and reach for that reed which has been sitting in their reed cup and try to play on a reed with the opening twice the size of a normal reed and produce no sound and look around petrified. The fail safe way of soaking reeds I have found, which incidentally is also the way Mr Mack soaks reeds is to run them under warm water and then replace them in your case. There is no need to walk around with a cup of water that looks like a specimen sample, there is also not as much junk around your music stand and a little cup of water that you can kick and step on your reed! As far as creating suction on your reed to hear the 'pop',it is not something you want to do, according to Elaine Douvas, who almost had a nervous breakdown when she heard an oboist do that. It traps water in the reed and does nothing really conclusive to determine the playing characteristics of the reed, it just tells you that you have an airtight seal that is all.

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