Klarinet Archive - Posting 000672.txt from 2003/08

From: GrabnerWG@-----.com
Subj: Re: [kl] 56 Rue Lepic Reeds by Vandoren
Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 10:07:53 -0400

In a message dated 8/26/2003 1:27:10 AM Eastern Daylight Time, kevinfay@-----.com writes:

> . . . they look like the Olivieri reeds I used 20+ years
> ago. Apparently
> nothing is new.
>
> kjf>>

There are only so many ways you can cut and shape a reed and still get it to vibrate on a mouthpiece.

In the end, it's the quality of the cane that counts. You cannot make great reeds from poor or below average cane.

I had an experience last night. I dug into a box of Rico Grand Concert Evolution Reeds, the not file cut variety. I don't even know how I got these reeds, I think they were sent to me by mistake.

"Not file cut" means that the bark is not cut straight across, but has the rounded appearance of cheaper student reeds. I also didn't like the look of the tips of the reeds. They didn't look very "finished". Well, was I surprised.

Well, out of ten, I set five aside as almost immediately playable. The reeds were responsive, with that nice "ring" or "pop" of the really good reed, not too bright, not too dark.

I was able to really "push" these reeds to the limit. They allowed me to display lots of different tone colors.

But looking at the reeds, my initial response was YUCK!

So, what do I know?

Walter Grabner
www.clarinetxpress.com

Walter Grabner

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