 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Sam
Date: 1999-12-20 20:25
Is it just me or is it now more difficult to find a working Vandoren reed that meets playing expectations.
I am having trouble. I used to get more decent playing reeds out of a box than I am now. The fact that I sand my reeds doesn't even help.
Am I the only person posed with this problem?
Your insite would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Sam
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Author: Ginny
Date: 1999-12-20 21:07
So far my new box has 3 winners out of 3, at least tolerable reeds. My kids box had one we trashed, one we sanded and saved and 5 untouched.
Ginny
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Author: Meredith H.
Date: 1999-12-20 21:20
I always found Vandoran reeds to be reasonably variable but there is nothing like a good Vandoran reed. I have just tried Rico Grand Concert Select reeds due to some prompting from this BB. I find their consistancy to be better than Vandoran but I by far prefer the sound I get on a good Vandoran reed. However, since Grand Concert reed are $13.00 a box cheaper in Australia I'll put up this the lower quality since I only really play in front of my students.
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Author: barry
Date: 1999-12-20 23:13
When they are good, they are very very good, and when VDs are bad they are horrid. But I've had several consistently good boxes from Glotin recently. Has anyone else tried them?
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Author: Accomps
Date: 1999-12-21 01:34
What about the sound of the GC's do you not like? What does the Vandoren give you that the GC's don't?
Dave Blumberg
www.mp3.com/mytempo
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Author: Hiroshi
Date: 1999-12-21 02:01
In the middle of 1980's there was a chilling weather in Europe and French Var cane fields are damaged.Since then French reeds have been losing their quality.
By a reasonable suspision,do you think Vandoren makes such a big amount of reeds from Var region in stead of the climate damage? I even suspect that they are not making reeds from canes grown in France.
Look at the heel.There are too many pores, not densely populated one. People are still keeping to use them relying on only their used-to-be name value.
In my case one usable out of 100 Vandoren is the most optimistic expectation.
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Author: Meredith H.
Date: 1999-12-21 02:09
I find the sound of a good Vandoran to be 'smoother' than the GC reeds or at least that is how they respond to my playing. To me the GC reeds sound rather harsh in comparison. GC reeds are definitely a different shape especially at the tip where they remind me more of Mitchell Lurie reeds (yes, I do realise that both are made by Rico). I intend to play around with them a little bit more but I have a feeling I will end up back with Vandoran.
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Author: Rick2
Date: 1999-12-21 03:45
You might also try La Voz reeds. I recently started using them and have found the reeds to be extremely consistent. They grade their strengths a bit different. The La Voz medium is about a Rico Royal 3.
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Author: Dee
Date: 1999-12-21 04:14
It seems I end up being the lone dissenting voice on this issue but I find the regular Vandorens to yield a high percentage of good to excellent reeds.
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Author: Roger Merriam
Date: 1999-12-21 12:14
My experience with Glotin has been rather stormly. In the early 90's I was using GIII's. They really were great reeds with outstanding throat tones. Then I bought another batch (I buy 4 or 5 boxes at a time---I am a lawyer by trade, not a professional musician) and they were unuseable.
I switched to Vandoren. Then Glotin came out with the Chamber cut reed. I have been using them and still have four or five boxes left. Now Glotin now longer makes the chamber cut (or orchestra cut) and I am unsure what will happen.
Glotins can be very good reeds but consistency over the years may be a problem.
This problem may be endemic to all reeds---environmental factors are stressing cane.
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Author: steve
Date: 1999-12-21 17:33
way back when....in the mid 60's you're lucky to get 3 out of 10 vandorens that were salvagable....moree was about 5-6/10, but when you got one of them going (my favorite was 2.5, 12,5 mm tip german facing)....wow!!!!...some folks played oliveri...some folks made their own...
I played some vandorens and rico grand concerts recently after a 25 year layoff and was amazed at the quality...
I guess ricos are still ricos...
s.
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Author: William
Date: 1999-12-21 17:45
Hirioshi--ONE out of a HUNDRED?????? Send me your rejects. I recently purchased a box of VD regulars (#4) and found that all of the reeds were playable (with adjustments) and three of the ten were truely excellant.
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Author: Ginny
Date: 1999-12-21 18:14
I would like to point out that if we assume 30% of the reeds are bad in total, any given box can have from 100-0% bad reeds. The likelihood of getting all bad reeds is much less than getting 3 bad reeds, but it must happen occassionaly if bad reeds are randomly included. So now and then you flip heads five times in a row and get all good reeds, in a theoretical distribution of reeds.
Ginny
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Author: Sam
Date: 1999-12-21 19:58
I usually only will get 2-3 playing reeds out of a box or regular vandorens.
Would switching to V12's make a difference in the number of playable reeds?
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Author: Meredith H.
Date: 1999-12-21 21:08
I haven't played on Rico Royal reeds for about 15 years but if I remember correctly they are very soft. Would a Rico Royal 4 be equivalent to a Vandoran 3? Are La Voz reeds a similar shape to Vandoran?
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Author: Jeff
Date: 1999-12-21 23:28
You are not the only one! The only thing I am not sure about is what type to use. Traditionals or V12s? I have always used V12s, but my teacher has given me 2 Traditionals that didn't make her first cut when she tested:), and they sound awesome. I was popping out way above the staff C's with little trouble. Now I don't know what to do.
Jeff
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Author: Dee
Date: 1999-12-22 00:12
Simple. Use what works for you. We are all different.
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Author: yakkom
Date: 1999-12-22 00:32
Well, all the talk about probability, mainly Ginny, has inspired me to write a little probabilistic theory on reed selection. I am by trade a statistician who seems to enjoy plaing the clarinet anyway. Let's say that on average 4/10 V-12's are really playing quality. For some this is high and for others this is low. I choose this because this is what I have found to be the average. If we collect a little more data then we can really find the mean. If you are interested in that the send your average to yakkomh@ix.netcom.com and we will really analyze this data.
Next, we know that each reed has a 2/5 chance of being good and we want to know what the probability of getting a whole box of good reeds. We need to look at (2/5)^10 which yields 1024/9765625 which is about a about a 0.01 % chance. That is not very good. Actually it is rather unacceptable when you consider the fact that 60% of what you are paying for is usually not performance quality.
We should band together and collect some more stats. Let make a case for reform in the reed market. Or atleast have fun blowing hot air. Hope you found this interesting...
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Author: Rick2
Date: 1999-12-22 04:46
I held a LaVoz and Vandoren back-to-back. The LaVoz is a bit wider at the tip (a very little bit) and a very little bit thinner on the thick end (thin in width, not thickness). The Vandoren is about a 3-4 mm longer than the LaVoz.
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Author: Jeff
Date: 1999-12-23 01:31
Then I guess I will have to switch back and forth quite a bit then!!
Jeff
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Author: Heidi
Date: 1999-12-23 10:43
I wonder if anyone has tried to duplicate the growing conditions (soil type, sunshine, rainfall, etc.) of the Var region in a greenhouse. I realize there are a lot of variables, however, it could be done with a lot of patience. Does anyone know if any reed manufacturers have even considered this ???
Heidi
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Author: MusiCguy555
Date: 1999-12-23 22:11
I have recently purchased boxes of vandoren reeds. I have found out that 3 out of the 10 reeds have been good at the begining when I first opened the box. But after a while, the reeds seem to get better if you keep them in a high area where the air is circulated. They are ok... but the reeds could be a lot better.
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Author: t v gestel
Date: 1999-12-28 18:13
hello
i play vandoren V12,that is a verry good reed.try it realy!!! V12 nr 3
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Author: Margaret Copeland
Date: 1999-12-29 13:19
It will be interesting to see what next year's reed crop is like - probably take a while to get into the market. I don't think the big winds and high surf are going to do much good for a lot of France's "agricultural" activites. As for the wind ... I've heard it conjectured that the Mistral affects how the cane grows and shapes itself. I've tried cane from Texas and California - wild picked - and hated the reeds I made. The best cane I have around now is '81 Glotin - fine grain, not too hard, never spongy. If I were a clarinet player I would not throw the losers away. I'd play them a bit, rinse and dry and let them sit a month or so and then reevaluate after lightly sanding. Probably the issue that affects the quality of cane the most is that many of the good cane areas are now the domain of housing developements and the ubiquitous "MacDo". Ever wonder what a French cane sorter gets per day ???
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