How to set the reed up properly on the saxophone

Here are a few simple pointers on how best to position the saxophone reed on your mouthpiece. So much about tone depends on not just having a good reed, but putting it in the right place. Some reeds labelled as the same brand and strength are actually quite different in their relative hardness or softness. In general, and depending on your timbral preferences, soft reeds can sit higher up on the mouthpiece and hard reeds can sit lower. Don’t over-tighten the ligature or put it on the wrong way. Diagonally grained reeds can be positioned at an angle to egret the best out of them. Line up the grains with the mouthpiece rather than the reed itself and often these otherwise unresponsive reeds may come to life.

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