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RE: Plastic Reeds

Author: paul
Date: 2000-01-31 16:36

I personally own both a FiberCell and several Legere reeds. I play the clarinet as an adult novice. For me, the FiberCell sounds and reacts like a piece of plastic. The frequency response and overall "woody" characteristics just aren't there. In addition, the slick reed facing makes it really difficult for me to find the right embouchure sweet spot to get the notes out. My FiberCell reed is at the bottom of my clarinet case as an emergency reed. The Legeres come remarkably close to natural cane for responsiveness and cane-like behavior. That's because the Legere reeds have a string micro fiber construction inside, making them much more like a cane reed with internal microtubular construction. I really like the Legere reeds' chevron-like ridges. These ridges helped me find the correct lower lip placement for all notes from chalemeau to high altissimo. I like the ridge concept so well that I believe that the Legere reed would make an excellent training reed for younger students or more novice players. I have quite a few Legere reeds at the top of my clarinet case, interspersed with my Vandoren V-12 natural cane reeds.

Either way, I like Jim Carabetta's concept of having an artificial reed as a backup reed or for the main reed on a backup horn. There is no warm up, no warping, and a real toughness to a plastic reed's construction that makes it a good choice for harsh playing environments. For example, I believe that an artificial reed is great for marching band or for outdoor work.

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