Any way to quickly break in a Bb clarinet reed without weekening it?

Question

I play on a size five, wich is extremely strong, so it takes me forever to break in a reed just by soaking it in my mouth and playing on it. Any way to speed up the process without damaging it, shortening its lifespan, or making it weaker? Please help me! It takes me weeks to bring a reed to max playability!

Answer 1

that's the only way I can think of it sorry

Answer 2

First off- why on earth do you play on a strength 5 reed?! As long as it works for you, I guess... To each his own! LOL

Anyways, when you get a new box of reeds:

1) Before you put them in your mouth you should soak them in room temperature water for about 10 minutes.  

2) Let them dry on a flat surface for about 24 hours (reed cases with the glass in them work well for this).  

3) When they're dry, go ahead and suck on one for a couple minutes, play it for 10 minutes, then let it dry again.  Do this for all the reeds.

4) Repeat step 3 for another day.

5) Pick a few that have played well for you... put one on your clarinet and play for 5 minutes, but let your other reeds soak in water as you do this... just rotate through the reeds until they have all been soaked and played.  Dry them for 24 hours (again, on something flat like a piece of glass, or else they will warp from the saturation).

There you go... you have a bunch of reeds that are broken in and ready to go, and I've found that doing this also helps them to last longer.  I have done this with reeds ranging in strengths from 3 to 5, and it does not make them weaker.  They may still be a little on the stiff side, but it will cut about 15 hours of playing off your break in time.

Good luck, and happy playing!

Answer 3

when you first buy the reed(s) put it into a glass of water for a while the longer the better then take it out when you want to play you will still get the great sound of a 5 and you don't damage it and after your done just put it in it's plastic case thing and the next time you use it just take it out you only need to put it into the water when you get it unless you leave it in for a really short time. hope this helps, Mike

Answer 4

Hi BN.   I have a friend who has been playing clarinet (as well as bass clarinet,  saxophone, flute) for 52 years... forty years professionally.  He has played with the Houston Symphony,  Houston Ballet,  Theater Under the Stars, and Houston Opera.    He strictly plays Buffet R-13 and Buffet Festival.   This professional clarinet musician needs, chooses and uses a 4 strength reed.  I suspect that you are pushing the limits and could save alot of time and your lips and sound by taking it down a notch.   What you might really need is a professional mouthpiece...  expensive,  but that is what the professionals use.  My friend's mouthpiece is a Kaspar..  just around $500.00 but there are others out there which are more reasonable.    You may be hurting your entire embouchure by using a reed which is that dense..... so I would be careful.