 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Buster Brown
Date: 2006-02-11 13:25
I have observations and questions on the never-ending subject of reeds. This time it's about sax (alto) and clarinet reeds.
1. In a box of sax reeds (Using VD Java) essentially all reeds are usable and consistant. One seems to play just like the others. With clarinets reeds I find about 6 or 7 are playable. The others require work. Great variation/inconsistancy from reed to reed (using Gonzalez FOF and VD V12). The Gonzalez seem more uniform.
2. The sax reeds seem to last forever. The clarinet reeds a much shorter time. I can't provide facts on this since I rotate 6 - 8 clarinet reeds and only 2 sax reeds. I do play (practice) the clarinet considerably more, and this probably contributes some to the reeds life.
Questions? Is it the quality of the reeds? The instruments/mouthpieces? Me?
I tend to believe it's the instruments. Saxophones are much more forgiving. Tonal quality not as inportant (vibratos cover up alot). Range of sax less and so on and so forth. Any thoughts.
Incidentally (this comment for Hank), it's raining today, therefore no golf, thus a question about reeds.
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Author: William
Date: 2006-02-11 14:17
I do not find sax reeds to be as consistant and usable as you report, but once I find a good one, it does tend to last a very long time--years, for some. Fred Hemke also made a similar statement to me a few years ago here in Madison, WI. His reeds were actually dirty in appearance from long useage--his term, "forever". I have no particular special insight as to why sax reeds might be more durable than those of the clarinets, but perhaps one reason is due to the more relaxed embouchure used while playing or maybe the simple fact that sax reeds are larger slivers of wood. Whatever, my sax reeds do seem to last "forever", but finding the "good" ones still requires a search--not everyone out of the box is a winner by any means.
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Author: Hank Lehrer
Date: 2006-02-11 18:22
Buster Brown,
You are breaking my heart as it is snowing here! No golf today either so I'll join the discussion.
I have also found that I have been playing my sax reeds (soprano, alto, and tenor) much longer than clarinet reeds. I think Hemke has really stated it correctly and William may be right about the embouchure.
I'd like to offer another "dimension" to teh argument and that is size. An adjustment on a clarinet reed, no matter how small is still proportionally less on a sax reed. Ergo, the clarinet reed may be much more suseptable to a small changes of any kind whereas a sax reed is more impervious to differences.
Just a guess not backed by any research. I have recently broken into an aged box of La Voz Bass Clarinet reeds that are awsome on my tenor. Go figger!
HRL
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Author: Buster Brown
Date: 2006-02-12 14:33
Hank, sorry about the snow. We're sunny and will reach 50 today, so I'll probably play this afternoon. Maybe 9 holes.
LaVoz was my favorite reed brand 40 years ago. Haven't tried them since I started playing again. I bet if I look hard enough, I may have a 40 year old box lying around. Wonder if they'd still be my favorite.
My conclusion on sax versus clarinet reeds is it's the embouchure, plus the fact we probably all use a much "softer' reed on the sax. Going from soft to too soft takes longer than from hard to soft.
Hope the snow melts soon.
BB
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Author: Bartleby
Date: 2006-02-16 08:53
Has anyone tried using soprano sax reeds on clarinet? Do you think they would work or even fit on a clarinet mouthpiece? I ask this because I, too, use Javas on my alto sax and find them excellent and long-lasting. Whereas I seem to spend an inordinate amount of time fiddling with clarinet reeds.
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Author: Roger Aldridge
Date: 2006-02-16 14:03
I know several jazz players who use soprano sax reeds on clarinet. I tried it 4-5 years ago. My initial impression was I could get more volume. However, after several days -- and, importantly, playing a gig with a soprano reed -- I found that I was not happy with my quality of sound. So, I quickly went back to my trusty clarinet reeds.
Have you tried Legere reeds on clarinet? They might help to give you what you are looking for. I get the best results with the Quebec model. It's a thicker cut (based on Morre). I like it much better than the regular Legere clarinet reed. I use a #3 Quebec on a Morgan RM28 mouthpiece. With this set up I get a dark, fat, vibrant sound and it has an ample amount of projection for big band clarinet playing and doubling.
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Author: Shorthand
Date: 2006-02-16 15:12
In general you can use a Soprano sax reed for Soprano clarinet, Alto for alto and Tenor for Bass.
Alto clarinet players are often forced to use Alto sax reeds just because of availability.
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Begin minddump:
Its common on Bass to use TS reeds as well. There is a long-standing conspiracy theory that the good cane goes to the Tenor Sax crowd as they're a bigger market.
However there IS a much bigger selection of TS reeds.
I am playing on a Hemke TS reed right now (one of the new ones with the yellow cane) and its right for this concert. The Vandorens will give a somewhat less reedy sound, and for a concert with less Tichelli and Dello Joio, I'd generally prefer them on my current Grabner CX_BB_PERS - which is a new purchase, so I'm still getting a feel for its "reedscape"
The combination of a thin blank, shorter-faced reed with Mr. Grabner's preference for a shorter facing seems to work pretty well, but in general I still prefer Vandorens.
They don't seem to last differently for me or have significantly different playability ratios.
For my Bay, anything but a VD Bass Clar reed sounds awfully reedy, though honestly I haven't explored using a straight VD TS reed on the Bass.
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Author: BassetHorn
Date: 2006-02-16 19:31
Soprano clarinet reeds do not fit my Conn soprano sax mouthpiece. I had to get the "proper" reeds for it.
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Author: susieray
Date: 2006-02-16 19:37
Willy,
Clarinet reeds probably wouldn't work too well on soprano sax, but you can use soprano sax reeds on clarinet. They are shorter and a little wider but they do work.
Sue
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