place the main part of the reed in some water to loosen it up a bit. This will help the reed move better. The water will help adjust the hole of the reed tip. The key is to make sure there is just the right amount of opening at the tip for it to work. If you think about it… too big an opening means you’ll have to blow a huge amount of air in to it even to get some sort of a sound (probably not a very nice sound). Too small an opening will also be a problem. Be careful not to leave it too long in the water or the opening might expand too big. I guess just have an experiment and see if you can find a sweet spot. Remember not to bite down on the reed