What Are Reeds and How Are They Made?

A lot of players have a love-hate relationship with reeds. We’ve all had bad reed days, which can feel like a massive slog to find a nice sound, where on the other hand when that perfect reed comes up it certainly comes with a big dose of euphoria! We can spend hours shaving down reeds to get them to suit our playing style, to make sure we don’t waste any in a box of reeds where only a couple seem suitable straight away. But what exactly are reeds? What are they made of, and how are they made? Why do they seem so inconsistent? Read on to find out.

What are reeds?
The vibration of a reed held on to a mouthpiece creates the sound we all know and love on a clarinet or saxophone. Reeds are made of a natural grass, from the giant cane species Arundo Donax. It is NOT made of bamboo, contrary to what you may have heard. Cane takes a couple years to grow, then another couple years to be seasoned before they can then be cut and filed, and sorted by flexibility into different ‘strengths’. Cane generally grows best in the Mediterranean Basin, so lots of cane is grown in the south of France or surrounding regions.

How is reed strength decided?
Reeds are sorted into strength categories, each brand has it’s own strength charts and naming system but they are all categorised based on the flexibility of the reed, not the thickness! A 5 strength reed is the same thickness as a 1 strength reed, but they have very different flexibility. In each box of reeds, you might find some that are perfect, but most of them are either too hard or too soft. This is intentional from the manufacturer as not everyone likes the same #3, and depending on performance situations and/or location sometimes a slightly harder or softer reed is necessary. Cane is also a natural product, so as with anything natural no reed will ever be identical to another!

Read our article on how to care for your reeds here.