Reeds (botanical name: arundo donax), typically from the Var region of southern France, are the source needed for sound production, together with a mouthpiece and ligature in clarinet playing. There are a lot of different makes and shapes that suit specific players, which will not be covered in this reflection. I perform on Vandoren Bb V12 3 ½+ reeds, and as all clarinet players know, reeds can be our best friend or worst enemy, being one of the defining aspects of timbre production. Every reed is slightly different and changes daily, making the choice for a specific concert only determinable right before I perform at the concert hall or venue. As part of this research project, I noticed that when I switched between the different wooden modern clarinets, the best reed I found wasn’t the best on all of them. With the mouthpiece and ligature staying the same, I assumed the best reed would be the de facto one for all instruments. This was not the case, and the choices I made when selecting an appropriate reed depended on which instrument I chose them on.
As a result, I thought it would be interesting to reflect on this with my reed choices for two presentations and concerts I had in December 2024 and June of 2025. Both concerts were primarily on the Bb instrument.
My reed process is as follows: I have six cases of reeds with four reeds in each case. The cases are numbered with new reeds starting from the «bottom» in reedcase 6. The most mature reeds are thus in reedcase 1. Reeds are played in with ready-to-perform reeds in reed cases 1 and 2. My main working instruments are the grenadilla instruments. I start my selection on this instrument, going through reedcase 1 and 2 (and occasionally 3) and notating my choices. I then changed to mopane clarinets and did the same to see which works on this instrument. Then do the same on the boxwood instrument, notating on a post-it.
My notation system is such that the Roman numerals on the left side vertically represent a group of four reeds in a case. I usually only use I=1 and II=2 for concerts, but the first concert also had case III=3. Reeds are numbered 1-4 from left to right in each row. A star means a good reed (they all have them, apparently). «(T)» indicates the strength with T=tung, which means hard in Norwegian, and the parentheses mean less hard. L=lett in Norwegian or soft in English, with a parentheses indicating less soft. This is the resistance of a reed on my mouthpiece. A line below the reed means it works in the Gunnar Sævigs sal, the concert hall where both performances were held.
These were my selections from my concert and presentation 12/12/24:
For the first concert, I chose the boxed-in reeds (Case I, nr. 2 and nr. 4). «1. avd = 1. avdeling» means 1st half of the concert, and «2.avd = 2. avdeling» means 2nd half of the concert. Above the start of each square, I have noted M = mopane, B = boxwood, and G = grenadilla. The number after indicates which rank reed is best, with one being the best and three being the 3rd best. Reed case II, no. 4, was also viable, but I didn’t select it for the concert. The reason for choosing two or more reeds to play a concert is that reed degradation occurs over time when performing. One reed might perform well for a whole concert, but from my experience, its strength and responsiveness will degrade over time, and changing reeds to optimize chances of a good performance is preferable to me. Before, I would even change reeds for each piece in a recital, between movements in a symphony orchestra concert, or even before a solo in an orchestra. But I have gone a bit away from this, as changing reeds and not having the possibility to try before could involve risk if the placement isn’t 100% accurate on the mouthpiece.
In the 1st half of the concert, the selected reed was best on the boxwood, 2nd on Mopane, and 3rd on grenadilla. In the concert's 2nd half, this reed was best on the mopane and grenadilla and 2nd on the boxwood. The 1st half of the concert started with Pierné on the mopane clarinet and continued with Purcell on the boxwood clarinet. I chose the 4th reed from the first case, even though it was the 2nd choice for the mopane clarinet. For the 2nd half of the concert, where I played Rossini on the mopane clarinet and then Piazzolla’s on the grenadilla clarinet, I chose the 2nd reed from the first case, which was the first choice on both these instruments.
These were my selections from my concert and presentation 09/06/25 (picture taken the day after):
As you can see, I have an alternate system here for the selection process. We can ignore the 2 2/4. I use this notation to remember where to alternate between six reed cases, so all reeds get played on. This means I practiced in my last session until reedcase II, reed 2 of 4, so my next practice session should start from reed 3 of 4. This is my rotation system. After getting to reedcase 6 nr. 4, I started again from the beginning (skipping reedcase I and II if I am in orchestra, as these are used on stage only to prevent degradation). The enzymes in our saliva degrade the cane over time, in addition to the vibrations caused by airflow. I consider not playing on a good reed to save it for future performance. However, the potential for the reed to be different on another day because of bar (atmospheric pressure), humidity, temperature, and elevation is also highly probable.
The selections are circled (not with a line below them). This is purely by chance, as the process is made up as I go along. In reedcase I, nr. 1 is my choice on the mopane instrument (the third choice on the grenadilla), and nr. 2 is the best choice for the grenadilla and mopane.
For this concert, I started with reedcase I nr. 2 as I began the concert with Ulvo on the boxwood clarinet. After this piece, I was supposed to switch to I nr. 1, but I forgot the reed case at the back of the hall. Even though I am fairly organized, the logistics of playing, talking, and recording resulted in this oversight. I felt I could not leave the stage to get my reedcase, thus, this whole concert was played on I nr. 2.
The choices for this concert differed from the December concert, where the best reed was the same on mopane and grenadilla clarinets. This would indicate a potential randomness that Reed works best with which wood clarinet. For a future selection, it is plausible that a reed would be best on the mopane AND boxwood clarinets.
What can we conclude from this small personal sample of reed selection for two concerts? I conclude that I cannot rely on the choice of my main grenadilla instruments to be the best case when performing on a different wood clarinet. A good reed isn’t just a good reed. The choice of reed as a material affordance is thus variable depending on the instrument I choose it for. The response rate, dynamic impact, and pitch will be the same, but the timber qualities and feel won’t. Thus, having a broad selection of reeds to find the best one for the right clarinet (and the venue played in-which is an affordance in itself) is one of the equations needed when planning for a top-end performance.