Watch your back!

Many people prescribe flattening the backs of warped reeds, or even all reeds, by rubbing the back of the reed over sandpaper on a flat surface. 

Here's why I never do this:

• Unless you're very, very careful not to get near the tip, you will change the strength of the reed and possibly make the tip so thin that the reed will become too soft or even unplayable.

• It's unlikely that you'll be able to get rid of the warp without making the thickness of one side of the reed different than the other.

• Even if you are successful in getting rid of the warp without unbalancing the side-to-side thickness, the internal structure of a warped reed will likely cause the reed to warp again anyway.

If a reed rocks either front to back or side to side on a flat surface, don't bother trying to fix it. Throw it away!

Also, many people "polish" the bottom of the reed by rubbing it across either very fine sandpaper or regular paper with the idea that a reed polished that way won't absorb moisture and additionally will be less likely to warp. 

Here's why I never do this:

• Polishing creates a smooth surface that actually encourages the collection of moisture by wicking moisture from the vamp (the cut part) to the heel of the reed, sometimes creating a sizzling sound when you play it.

• Polishing the back of a reed does nothing to decrease absorption by "sealing" the reed. All you do when you remove a layer of wood is to expose another layer of wood with the same tube structure. In fact, you're not sealing the reed in any way - you're probably just smoothing down some tiny bumps on the surface.

• Doing this does nothing to increase a reed's playability, nor does it increase its longevity.

Over and out.