On a blog I found someone complaining about how long his or her reeds last. The writer is talking English horn reeds, mind you:
I practice so hard, that my reeds usually wear out in 2 to 3 months, not as long as one year as people “commonly known”.
Um … 2 or 3 months is a pretty long time. Granted, EH reeds last longer than oboe reeds, but it sounds like this person thinks an EH reeds should last a year. Not likely!
i must be doing it wrong but an English horn reed works for about a month for me. if i have a few in rotation of course they last longer but wow…if i had any reed last 2+ months (oboe/ehorn/bassoon/sax/clarinet/whatever) i would throw a party.
Some of my EH reeds last a good long time (yes, a few months), but never a year. They usually last a longer time simply because they don’t get played as frequently. I’m sure if I added up hours they would actually be similar to an oboe reed’s life span.
My English Horn reeds tend to last about 6 months, but I almost never use them. Oboe reeds usually about a week. *face*
We still talk about the bassoonist who used to go to my school who played on a 26-year-old contra reed, though!