I’m a piper greener than new cane and last April acquired a brand-new, actual working reed (whoo!) after unwittingly playing on a cracked one for several months. The new reed seemed quite stiff at first too, but over time it seems to just get better and better – it’s more flexible and more in tune, and the second octave B is coming fairly easily now at a reasonable speed, etc.
(No, I don’t think it’s me – since November I’ve been lucky to get in even a half hour a week)
I’ve also noticed that my reed seems to get easier and more in tune after about 10 minutes of playing (I usually start with scales and long tones; I’m trying to get things smoother with the refilling the bag, working the bellows, etc.); it’s sort of like it’s opening up.
So my question is, do reeds “get played in” over time?
Sorry if this is a stupid question but … well, there you go. It is what it is.
I think reeds do get played in, in that they become a little easier to blow after a few weeks. I also think that part of it is me, in that I get more used to the particular reed and become more efficient at finding the right pressure to squeeze the bag to get the right sound.
U’ll find soon like a "reednature " after some playingmonths vs seasons…some of them just don’t work anymore certain humidity conditions and others keep going several years without any problems… (even here in scandinavia Finland , when outer temperatures changes between-25 to +35 during year)
be tuned,
M
Yes, reeds will get played in, especially the stiffer ones. Once played in, the stiffer ones tend to last longer. Reeds will eventually get played out, too, especially if you don’t keep playing them. Then it’s time to start looking (or making) new reeds all over again.
Echoing what PJ wrote, see the thread posted by Pat Sky on this topic. He basically argues that over time the relationship between player and chanter becomes stronger because the player is becoming more familiar with the variables at hand: reed, pressure, fingering, etc. The example he gives is that a really good piper can take a chanter from someone else and after a short time it “magically” comes into tune. What is actually going on, probably, is that the player’s brain and motor skills is assimilating data from the chanter (kinda like telemetry from a rocket or something) and is making minor adjustments along the way (like mission control telling Major Tom to watch out for that space junk), etc.
Reeds do change over time. They change especially quickly early in their lives.
Some of these changes may be due to being played, while others are just a matter of cane settling and relieving built-in stresses due to reed construction. Some makers advocate for reeds with minimum inbuilt stresses from the outset, to help make the initial changes less dramatic (and for other reasons such as improved responsiveness and tone - I subscribe to this belief system as well). Of course the weather is always changing too, so current weather conditions have to be figured into the mix.
Usually reeds do get easier to blow over time. It’s hard to distinguish to what extent “playing in” affects this, but it is certainly something most players have encountered. It’s usually best to leave a reed “a bit” stiff when initially fitting it - emphasis being a bit - so that when it finishes easing in, the result is just right. Often this seems to be partly due to a reduced aperture (i.e. more closed reed over time), which would probably be a result of stress relief; the reed blades may also become more compliant, which may possibly be a result of being played.
The player accomodates too, of course, which is something that certainly happens with new chanters as well; it takes time to get acquainted!
As a final note about reeds “warming up” - besides the fact that the player warms up too, reeds do often start out a bit over-open and close down slightly as they are played. Sometimes a couple of seconds held between thumb and forefinger can be used to simulate the effect of 5 or 10 minutes of playing.
If you play good reeds well, they get much better. If you play them poorly, they may be liable to get worse. After a long time, (a few years,) of playing good reeds well, they will get persnickety, and you will get persnickety, too, and they will require a seasonal, empathetic tending to. Of course, as someone once said, “There are no good reeds. We just learn to play the bad ones.”