Saxophone Forum


by AlexEik
(11 posts)
5 years ago

Chipping Bari Reeds over and over

Hi, this is my first post on this forum or any forum. and its because im desperate. I played bari for 2 years in middle school and now im a freshman in highschool and the BD asked me to play bari in jazz band. Anyways, Im go through reeds at a crazy pace. I dont know what Im doing. They reeds are usually tearing down the middle. not chipping just tearing. then after it tears it will usually chip off. Ive gone through 5 reeds in two weeks. and as you probably know bari reeds are pretty pricey. i dont have this problem on my alto as my reeds last atleast a month. Im desperate for an answer. I've asked one of the older sax players he said i must be hitting the reed on something but that doesnt make sense since its not chipping. my thought was that Im tounging in a weird way and some how breaking the reed. I thought i might of gotten just a bad batch of reeds so i ordered some more from a different brand and the same thing happened. I play strength 3 if anyone was wondering. Thank you for any tips or ideas. 

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  1. by mijderf
    (282 posts)

    5 years ago

    Re: Chipping Bari Reeds over and over

    It would be helpful to know what reed strength and what mouthpiece (and tip size) you are playing.  Some things that come to mind are:
    1.  Examine your mouthpiece tip and make sure it is smooth and flat from side to side of the mouthpiece.  If there is a high spot in the middle it might be forcing the reed to bend in a way that it splits.
    2.  If you are using too much embouchure pressure or biting (this seems counter productive on a baritone) you can sometimes damage a reed. If you have played mostly alto in the past, you might need to loosen your embouchure a bit for bari.
    3.  Is the tip of your reed extending out beyond the tip of the mouthpiece, so that you could be    bending it when you tongue?
    4.  Are you playing too far out toward the tip of the mouthpiece?  Your lower lip should be sitting near the point where the reed just starts to show a gap between the reed and the mouthpiece rails.

    Ok, I'm out of thoughts on this.  If you can give more details about your setup, it might be helpful.  Good Luck!

     

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    1. by AlexEik
      (11 posts)

      5 years ago

      Re: Chipping Bari Reeds over and over

      The mouthpiece is a Vandoren v15 b7. It’s one of the older players and he’s letting me use it. (I’m a freshman) there’s no chip or deformities. I feel like it’s probebly just me. I added some pictures so you can look at those

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      1. by mijderf
        (282 posts)

        5 years ago

        Re: Chipping Bari Reeds over and over

        That looks to be a nominal .108" tip opening.  So what strength reed are you using.  A lot of reed strengths would be high for that tip size.

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        1. by AlexEik
          (11 posts)

          5 years ago

          Re: Chipping Bari Reeds over and over

          I use 3. I’ve been tryimg some different reeds. First I got a box of D’addario Strength 3 and they were chilping very easily. Now I got a box of Vandoren V16s and they seem to be much more sturdy. 

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        2. by mijderf
          (282 posts)

          5 years ago

          Re: Chipping Bari Reeds over and over

          Your mouthpiece and reed seem to be fine.  So if I were you, I would start examining points 2,3 and 4 that were in my first response.  The embouchure pressure and mouthpiece position used on an alto can be significantly different than that needed for tenor or bari.  I know that when I first moved to the bigger horns I had to take in more mouthpiece in order to get to the reed breakpoint with the rails, (it did feel awkward for awhile) and I had to play with less embouchure pressure to get the best tone up and down the entire register.

          I hope you find a fix for this problem! 

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        3. by mijderf
          (282 posts)

          5 years ago

          Re: Chipping Bari Reeds over and over

          OK, one more try on this.  Here is a link to split bari reeds from another forum. Read posts 4, 5 and 8 in particular. 

           https://forum.saxontheweb.net/archive/index.php/t-156055.html

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