A Solution for Happy Bassoon Reeds All Winter Long

We all want our reeds to just work all of the time, and certainly no one wants to open their reed case and find something yucky, which has admittedly probably happened to most of us at least once in our lifetime. We are also entering the time of the year that most areas across the US are drying out going into winter. For bassoonists, this always seems to throw a wrench into our playing, with reeds getting too dry and cracking or just not working the way we once knew them to.

Now, there is a something to be said for having a reed storage solution that also allows for ventilation, ie a reed case with some holes. This is still important, but I would like to introduce another solution to our reeds getting bone dry in the winter.

Enter, Boveda packs. These little packets were designed initially for cigar humidors to keep cigars at a consistent humidity. They have figured out how to make the packet control humidity, instead of just dish it out (like a damp sponge would). There’s more science behind it than I can comprehend at the moment (and you can read/watch a bit more about it here), but I do know that putting one in a sealed ziplock back with your reed case (that has holes!) will keep your reeds more consistent through these weird, dry weather months.

I have been using the 72%, size 8 ones for about two years now and have not once opened my reed case to mysterious substances growing and have had the luxury of reeds that play how they did the day before. This was also with my reeds living most of their life in a oddly climate controlled music building. I’ve found that these packets last about a month or two before needing to be replaced.

I finally found a solution to my biggest issue as a bassoonist, and that was anxiety about how my reeds would act that day in that specific environment. God forbid I traveled anywhere, or the anxiety level would just sky rocket. Now, I can rest easy knowing that my reeds are going to act pretty much just how I left them without any fun new diseases growing in my reed case. I hope this information can help you, and if it does, leave me a comment below as I would love to hear from you!

As always, happy bassooning!