Klarinet Archive - Posting 000416.txt from 2005/05

From: frogiejaz9@-----.com
Subj: Re: [kl] Question on Gonzales FOF reeds
Date: Sun, 29 May 2005 22:41:59 -0400

This question is for Walter and for any northeastern US clarinet
players. About six months ago, I experimented with the FOF, Mozart,
and Select Gonzalez reeds based on the rave reviews I read hear on the
Klarinet List. I figured, what's the worst that can happen, I find
that they aren't to my liking and I give them to a friend or just
practice on them. I intentionally got two strengths of each and 3
different boxes to make the experiment as random as possible.
Spreading the reeds out on a table (by strength of course) I went to
work.

What I found was that at first playing, these reeds had a fantastic
response and I liked the sound that was coming out (something like that
one out of 300 Vandoren reeds sounds like) But after about 5 minutes,
the reed was basically dead, it lost all of the center in the sound and
the articulation was flabby. So I grabbed another reed, same thing.
This happened over the course of about 20 different reeds, some lasting
well over the 5 minute barrier, some not even making it that long.

(I should clarify that before I really tested these reeds, I soaked
them for about 20 seconds, let them dry on a piece of glass, another 20
sec, etc. to try and even the playing field.)

Have any other Northeastern US clarinet players (NYC metro area,
boston, etc) experienced this kind of let down with these reeds? I
talked to a few other clarinetists and they experienced similar
outcomes with these reeds which makes me believe that it is not me and
is very likely either the reeds or the area (hence the specificity of
the test region) Thanks!

Bryan Rudderow

-----Original Message-----
From: GrabnerWG@-----.com
To: klarinet@-----.org
Sent: Sun, 29 May 2005 18:25:06 EDT
Subject: [kl] Question on Gonzales FOF reeds

I am quite "sold" on the Gonzales FOF reeds. I really don't want to
start a
"I like my brand of reed best contest here. I know many of you get
good
results from a variety of different brands).

Of those of you out there, who use Gonzales reeds, what strength do
you
prefer. I seem to always wind up back at the 3 1/2 strength. Is that
the
consensus of other Gonzales users, or do you congregate at a slightly
harder
(or
softer) strength?

How many of you use a Gonzales 4, for example, and if so, with what
mouthpiece?

Walter Grabner
www.clarinetXpress.com
World-class clarinet mouthpieces

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