Reed 'em and weep.(Woodwinds)(www.alexdean.com)(Column)

I had a student over the other day that is in the process of changing from one mouthpiece to another. During the discussion we got onto the topic of reeds and how people prepare them. This is something that changes depending on what seems to work for you at the time. I have a couple of things that work for me so I thought I would pass them along.

To paraphrase an old guitar joke, "I think I spend 90 per cent of my time looking for a good reed and 10 per cent of my time playing on bad reeds." I've spoken to older musicians about "the state of cane", and they always say it used to be much better. I don't know if this is nostalgia talking or the truth. However, there seem to be a lot more people playing reed instruments now, and I'm sure that has to effect the cane supply somehow.

One aspect that I hadn't thought of is how well …