 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Sara
Date: 1999-11-19 01:12
I was windering if anyone could suggest a different brand of reeds that are more consistant than Vandorens, which is ahat I usually use. I have found that out aof a box of ten Vandoren 3s that only about three work for my B45. I relly need to find another brand because I'm kind of a young player and I don't know how to sand down reeds and all that. I need something that has some of the same charactoristics as far as sound but are more consistant as far as the entire box goes. Thats for any help you cna provide me with!
Saram
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Author: Katherine Pincock
Date: 1999-11-19 01:14
Actually, the Vandorens you're using can be a lot more consistent with one rather easy preparation. Get some 600 grit wet dry sandpaper, and lightly polish the back and sides of the reeds. The easiest way to do this is to set the sandpaper down on a flat surface and pull the reed across with a little pressure. Make sure that you keep the pressure even when you polish the sides, and make sure that you dust off all the wood particles before you play on it. I found that this trick let me get at least 2 or 3 more reeds per box. Hope this helps!
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Author: HIROSHI
Date: 1999-11-19 01:46
I am a fan of a new reed made in 1997 "Alexander Classic".
It does not need sanding! This is a thick heel reed after old MORRE reeds just like V12. Almost every one can be played. Maybe 1/2 harder than V12 but you need to check yourself.
<A HREF=
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Author: HIROSHI
Date: 1999-11-19 01:58
This is other info.
1. I recently became convinced that sanding 'heavily' the all the under surface makes reeds jeopadizes the reed. If you sand them, it should be with hair touch force. And even with this light force it jeopadizes the reed if applied many times.
2.Alexander classic reed under-surface is diamond cutted like reed tip they say.
<A HREF=http://www.superial.com/index.html>Alexander</A>
3.I do not mind consistency. Consistently bad is far worse than unconsistantly good i.e. a box inclludes different response reeds but with good characteristics. I even use different brand reeds for different genre of music.
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Author: Kontragirl
Date: 1999-11-19 02:40
I don't believe in such a thing as bad reeds. There's a link to another message that will get you to a good reed working site.
<a href=http://www.sneezy.org/clarinet/BBoard/read.html?id=12357>Link to a link of a reed working site</a>
Just my useless opinion,
Kontragirl
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Author: HIROSHI
Date: 1999-11-19 03:59
Kontragirl:
I play soprano and alto saxophones, and I usually find saxophone reeds are less difficult reeds to adjust or break in than clarinet reeds. I do not know the reason. You cited saxophone reeds adustment pages. Clarinet reeds adjustment is not so easy. There are plenty of techniques to adjust them in my book such as coutermeasure to squeak,thin highs,watery sounds etc and also clarinet reeds are more suceptible to warping provably because of high aspect(width-thickness/length) retio than sax reeds.
I read in an article describing what happened at Stolzman's master class when he introduced Kalmen Opperman and let him adjust a pupil's bad reed. These techniques, I guess, are only acquired after many dilligent personal research.
So,there are 'bad' reeds: which means "does not work off-the-box" or "simple sanding" as far as to those people,including myself, who do not have so much knowledge as Opperman or other professionals.
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Author: Dee
Date: 1999-11-19 04:02
One possibility is that the reed strength you are using is not correct for you or your mouthpiece. When this happens you won't get a very good percentage of playable reeds.
If I remember correctly the insert that comes with the B45 mouthpiece recommends reeds ranging from Vandoren 2.5 to 3.5 or equivalent. Harder or softer may be a problem for a typical player on this mouthpiece.
You might try Mitchell Lurie reeds. They are very playable out of the box but are a little shorter lived than most others. If you try these, you will need to buy them about a 1/2 grade harder than Vandorens.
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Author: Rick2
Date: 1999-11-19 04:22
I found Mitchel Luries to be softer than Rico Royals, which in turn are softer than Vandoren. I recently picked up 7/10 of a box of La Voz reeds and have played on two of them out of the box, unadjusted. So far I am very pleased with them.
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Author: Karel Vahala
Date: 1999-11-19 05:09
I have recently found LAVOZ Grand Concert reeds. So far I have been able to play all 7 reeds i have broken in.
Regards, Karel.
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Author: Kontragirl
Date: 1999-11-19 11:23
HIROSHI wrote:
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Kontragirl:
I play soprano and alto saxophones, and I usually find saxophone reeds are less difficult reeds to adjust or break in than clarinet reeds. I do not know the reason. You cited saxophone reeds adustment pages. Clarinet reeds adjustment is not so easy. There are plenty of techniques to adjust them in my book such as coutermeasure to squeak,thin highs,watery sounds etc and also clarinet reeds are more suceptible to warping provably because of high aspect(width-thickness/length) ratio than sax reeds.
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I don't have any trouble working with clarinet reeds...then again, I've been working with contra reeds (I got two boxes of 3's when I meant to get two boxes of 3.5's) so maybe the practice with the bigger reed helped. Who knows!
Just my useless opinion,
Kontragirl
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Author: Margaret Copeland
Date: 1999-11-19 14:05
I don't play clarinet - but I do make hundreds of oboe reeds. Yes there are bad reeds - bad reed material to start with. I'd imagine Vandoren or Glotin process so much reed cane that they must have it factory automated and have some very good quality control. However, reeds are finicky - it is a plant after all and some years and areas are good - some not. You scrape oboe reeds with a knife. I don't sand mine except as a final process. The scraping reveals a lot about a reed. I can tell how hard the bark is and how soft the pith is. I can also look and see if the grain is fine and straight. I helped my brother sort his sax reeds (not so finicky) but I was amazed at the "variety" of reeds he got in a pack. Some I knew would never play or made to play. Still with my presorting ability and my oboe reeds, I feel that I only get 1 out of 20 that are superior. I get most that I choose to scrape to work but they are not concert reeds. Those I save ! If you ever get a chance to buy old boxes of clarinet reeds do so. If they are really old, pre 60's they may be too old. The best reeds in my assortment come from French crops in the early 60's through the 70's.
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Author: Aaron Hayden
Date: 1999-11-19 14:38
Try the Rico Grand Concert Thick Blank. I've was using Vandoren tradional for approx. 25 years, until 2 years ago. Even years ago you may get 1 reed per box that played without any modifications. About 5 reeds that needed some tweaking and 4 reeds for the dumpster. Today I find that you may find 1 in 2 boxes of reeds that play decent. I've also noticed that the cane looks a little on the green side. Since I've used the GCTB I find that I can get at least 4 or 5 reeds that play decent. The cane looks seasoned. I've also noticed that with the Vandoren's most of the problems with the reeds seemed to be a warped lay.
The V12's are pretty good when you find a good reed, but that was always the case. When you find a good vandoren nothing was able to beat it.
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Author: paul
Date: 1999-11-19 14:59
Okay, I think I'm picking up some common themes on this thread for having a "good" reed.
1. Buy a box of brand X or brand Y reeds and let them sit on the shelf for a couple of years. The extra seasoning is worth the wait. I guess the boxes of Vandoren V-12 reeds that I bought about 3 years ago should be just about ideal now.
2. Customizing natural cane reeds is a fact of life. You might as well learn how to do it, either with a very fine sand paper or a reed rush (which does the same thing). This increases the yield of good reeds from almost any box.
3. Each natural cane reed is unique with its own performance characteristics and effective lifetime.
4. Each person is unique, with different needs for mouthpiece, reed, lig, and with different requirements for adjusting each one of these items to fit and perform well.
5. The reed strength of brand X is slightly different than brand Y, but there is still enough in common at least for comparison's sake. Some brands and models are easier to play for novices, while other brands and models require some work but can outperform almost everything on the market when the conditions are "just right".
I find that all of these points in this disussion sound just like we're comparing brands and models of clarinets.
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Author: William
Date: 1999-11-19 16:20
I have had success with Marc traditionals #4. LeBlanc changed the "cut" about two years ago, according to T. Ridenour. The reeds from the box seem more consistant than any other brand name reed I have tryed and most reeds play well, eventually, with adjustment. Just my experiance.....
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Author: Dee
Date: 1999-11-19 17:42
paul wrote:
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Okay, I think I'm picking up some common themes on this thread for having a "good" reed.
....
I find that all of these points in this disussion sound just like we're comparing brands and models of clarinets.
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There is another point that should be included.
The environment, especially temperature and humidity, affect how the player and reed interact. So it may play great in the summer and poorly in the summer for example. Or it may play superbly today and badly tomorrow and then wonderfully next week.
So I generally don't throw reeds away until they are worn out. If it doesn't play today, it just gets skipped in my rotation sequence until another time.
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Author: Sara
Date: 1999-11-20 17:36
Dee wrote:
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... I generally don't throw reeds away until they are worn out. If it doesn't play today, it just gets skipped in my rotation sequence until another time.
I usually do the same, but since the majority of the reeds I get are incredibly hard I don't bother messing wiht them and use them with my 5RV.
I've heard a lot about these grande concert selects. Whats so good about them? Are they like Vandorens? I am reluctant to try out a new brand of reeds because I don't want to buy a whole box and turn out to not like them.
Thank you guys for all the great information you gave me.
Sara
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Author: Nicole Y.
Date: 1999-11-21 19:41
How about trying the Marca? I love them. I used to play on Vandoren V12's...but I got frustrated with them, they were simply annoying. I have tried Rico Royals, Rico's, Zonda's (were nice, but a little too hard for me rather than the Marca). Then I went to the Rico Grand Concert Select Thick Blank, but I thought they had a tinny sound...so I went to Marca. Basically, you are going to have to shop around until you get the sound you like...
The Freshman,
Nicole Y.
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Author: Leah
Date: 1999-11-22 16:25
hey- i have the same mouthpiece as you, and the same problems too! i hate it when i am psyched to open a new box and the i have like 2 or 3 that i like. I am very picky too! but it looks like all good info here. i try playing all my bad reeds practicing and my good ones for my auditons and public things. that helps save the sparce good ones~ but i'm glad i'm not the only one!
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