Bret Pimentel, woodwinds

Tough love for teachers of beginning clarinetists.

If you are getting less than 80% playable reeds from the boxes you are currently buying, buy different ones.

Answers to questions submitted for the blog's 10th anniversary.

If you are a parent or band director of a young oboist or bassoonist, here is what you need to know about reedmaking.

Well-formed oboe and bassoon embouchures require attention to angle and overbite (respectively) to produce the best sounds with the least effort.

I’m a little late to the party on this, as the ReedGeek has been around for a number of years now and has been widely reviewed, but I finally picked one up (at ClarinetFest) after a long conversation/demonstration with inventor Mauro Di Gioia.  I have been using mine for a few months now and wanted ...

If you expect to play the clarinet decently well, you're going to have to do all the same things you did to play the saxophone decently well: obtain good quality equipment, seek out quality instruction, practice regularly and well, and listen to lots of fine playing.

During a rare visit to a music store this week, I overheard a very young clarinetist asking a salesperson to help him locate some unusually stiff reeds. The salesperson was as surprised as was I that the young man was interested in such an extreme equipment choice—but apparently for different reasons. “You must be very talented ...

Photo, chelseagirl There are three things to consider when evaluating a reed. I consider these same factors for either single or double reeds, and prioritize them in this order. Response. The overriding concern for me is that the reed responds exactly as I expect it to. A reed that is stiff, sluggish, stuffy, or otherwise ...

I’ve been trying out the Rico single and double reed cases. These are plastic cases that can optionally accommodate Rico’s “Reed Vitalizer” packets, which, according to Rico, help keep your reeds at your desired humidity level. The single reed case holds eight reeds, baritone saxophone or smaller, and the double reed case holds five double ...