oops, sorry about the double post

The reed needs to form a perfect seal with the mouthpiece or it will not play ,,to test this remove your neckpiece with the mouthpiece still on,,, and close off the end with yout hand ,,,now suck the air out of the neck doing so from the reed side ,,suck hard and create a vacuum ,,,,the reed should adhere to the mouthpiece and stick there for a long while ,,,,,, when you release your hand from the blocked end it should POPPP ,,,the better the pop the easier it will play,,,,,sometimes when reeds get water logged after being stored for a while they warp a little and do not produce this needed seal. So they are not playable. Changes in temperature and climatic changes cause this at times . Here in Montreal the winter is a real bummer for reeds ,,,humid summers are great though.

This is a great test, although I do it with just the mp, no neck. Also, when the reed becomes "unplayable" because of warping, a little work with a reed knife can bring it back to life. You'll often notice a little hump on the bottom side of the reed near the heart, this is what you want to make even with the rest of the reed. Of course, you could just buy a new one but we're all starving artists...right?

Actually...there's quiet a few mouthpieces out there that don't pass the seal test and play wonderful.

Hey CountSpatula can you name one that does not pass the test and plays ,,,I am intersted in finding out ,,i hope you know that what you are saying goes against all the physics ,,,since the reed does not vibrate during playing as we deem vibrating to be,,,,,, it actually perfoms more like a clapet valve on a two stroke engine

,i>Hey CountSpatula can you name one that does not pass the test and plays ,,,I am intersted in finding out ,,i hope you know that what you are saying goes against all the physics ,,,since the reed does not vibrate during playing as we deem vibrating to be,,,,,, it actually perfoms more like a clapet valve on a two stroke engine My Tenor Metal Selmer does not pass such a test, and it has been expertly refaced and plays nicely. I also play reeds on the harder side of medium and the facing is long. It may be that that sort of configuration does not do well on that test.

I may not be countspatula, but I know that my big jazz mouthpieces don't past this test. There's some point where the space between the tip of mp and tip of reed just naturally sit too far apart for this test to be feasible. However, I do find that my classical mouthpieces pass this test. I feel that if a reed can't pass this tests on a mp that it usually can, the reed may be too old and/or warped beyond use.

zongas make a really good reed as well, also you might want to try gonzalez reeds. both of these reed makers divide the strengths of the reeds up...like they make a 3 soft, a 3 medium and a 3 hard...so the consitency of the strengths are better. where as vandorens are very inconsistant with strength. and they play well too.

OK some of you guys are saying that their piece does not pass this test ,,,,that the reed tip is too far from the rails ,,,this does not mean it cannot pass the test it is just that the reed in this case leaves the rails very early ,as soon as you stop sucking the air ,,nevetheless the reed MUST,,, I REPEAT MUST,,, close tightly against the rails to the point of creating a perfect seal even if for a very short time ,,,IF NOT IT WILL NOT PLAY !!!!!!,,,likewise a piece that does not have rails that permit this seal will also not play ,,,just try a piece with badly warped rails and see ,,,most sax players have NO IDEA how the reed and piece perform during playing ,,,so they make claims that are caused by miss-information and contradict the laws of physics ,,,McGill university ran studies with xray machines to establish what exactly the reed does during playing ,,,whether sax ,,clarinet ,,,harmonica,,accordion ,bagpipe ,,etc .. DURING PLAYING THE REED SPENDS 50 PERCENT OF ITS TIME COMPLETELY CLOSED, AGAINST THE RAILS,,,, 25 PERCENT COMPLETELY OPEN AND 25 PERCENT FLUTTERING DURING ITS TRAVELS FROM CLOSED TO OPEN POSITION ACTUALLY IT DOES NOT VIBRATE ,IN THE NORMAL SENSE OF THE WORD,,, WHICH ONE WOULD EXPECT ,,THE PITCH IS PRODUCED BY HOW OFTEN EVERY SECOND IT GOES THROUGH THE COMPLETE CYCLE ( HOW OFTEN THE AIR PASSAGE IS OPEN FOR US TO PUSH AIR TROUGH ,,THE MORE CYCLES THE HIGHER THE PITCH) ,,,IF WE THINK ALONG THIS LINE WE UNDERSTAND WHY THE MORE PRESSURE WE PLAY WITH,,, THE LONGER WE CAN PLAY WITHOUT BREATHING ,,,BECAUSE WE CAUSE A BETTER SEAL AS THE FASTER AIR ENTERS THE PIECE QUICKLY AND CAUSES A LOW PRESSURE THAT SIDE OF THE REED,,, THE RESULTANT VACUUM PULLS THE REED INTO A CLOSED POSITION ,,IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE EMAIL ME