The Mustache

My favorite adjustment, maybe ever.

And it’s almost fool proof… almost…

With the mustache, I’m referring to a very specific area that most people refer to as the thumbnail. I think if you added eyes the reed would look like a distinguished gentleman.

This area controls the resistance of a reed. We ideally want it to be smooth and not have any noticeable ridges, but also thin enough relatively to the rest of the reed that it vibrates the way we need it to.

Speaking of vibrating the way we need, I would be remiss to not mention how important it is that the tip of the reed vibrates enough.

You may be asking “well Mariah, how do I know how much is enough?”

Enough is when the reed crows freely and bit raucously, as well as is comfortable to play without a lot of up and down lip pressure. The blades of the reed, or as I sometimes call the corners, need to be thin enough so when air is applied, they will flap against each other. This is the main function of bassoon reeds.

Now back to the mustache. Why is this area so important? Making this area thinner and blending it with the corners allows the reed to vibrate in the right way, without a lot of lip pressure or resistance. Thinning this area out a bit more lowers the resistance of a reed because you are evening out a ridge that more than likely exists and will help it be more comfortable to play and not feel like you’re blowing your brains out. Air wants to travel over a smooth surface, one that starts out thin and gradually gets thicker. If there are definite ridges, the air has to go around those somehow, and it means the path is interrupted, making the reed reel stuffy. If I’ve got a stuffy reed, I check here first and make sure it’s blended really nicely to the corners, thick to thin.

You can either make this adjustment with a knife or a diamond file, I quite like the small triangular diamond files myself.

If the reed still feels like you’re blowing your brains out, the next place I check are the wires, which are a big enough hurdle to overcome they will get their own dedicated post!

Thanks for “reeding”! Let me know in the comments how you visualize this area of the reed, and as always, happy bassooning!