 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Keil
Date: 2000-02-13 18:25
Here are my observations on my reeds, Vandoran 4's. It seems as though lately, living in Virginia Beach, that i have to shave my reeds down to a consistency of that of a 3 3/4 reed. I hate shaving reeds because i have no training in doing so, i'm basically hitting and getting a couple home runs but more foul balls. My reeds out of the box are either too hard, or too soft, never just right. 3 1/2's are good for a moment but then they become too soft. I've noticed that as i travel up north that my reeds respond much better. While up in Washington D.C. my reeds sang beautifully, but as soon as I returned home they were garbage. At first i thought it was just the freaky weather around here but now i'm starting to worry because they are consistently bad. I've tried Zonda's and they're okay out of the box but after an hour of playing they're dead. My friend is trying the Australian Vintage and is getting okay results. I have no idea what to do. I have state auditions in Feb. 26 so an answer or suggestion would be greatly appreciated ASAP. Is there something going on with the Vandoran cane that i should know about? Is anyone else having the same troubles? Can someone reccomend a more consistent reed brand? by the way i play on a Vandoran M13 profile 88 mouthpiece and Buffet R- 13 if that helps. I've become desperate and i think that my reed trouble is greatly contributing to my sudden disgust for the clarinet.
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Author: J. Butler
Date: 2000-02-13 19:22
I've switched to Alexander Superial reeds with excellent results. There are also other brands that may be worth invesitgating. How about it folks?
J. Butler
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2000-02-13 19:33
The simplistic answer is NO! I have found Mitchell Lurie for Bb are good and for my bass, SR's have been suitable. I often buy harder ones than I prob. will want, and using very fine emery-cloth 600-800 on a very flat surface, sand the BACK of the reed dry, then try it out, sometimes repeating the process. Every Good cl'ist has his own way of customizing reeds. Good luck, Don
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Author: brian
Date: 2000-02-13 19:33
There's a great piece on the website here about working with reeds-sanding, shaving, breaking them in, etc. I can't recall where it it, but just surf around a bit and you'll find it. Also, there appear to be some resources available through the site sponsors. Again, you'll have to check them out for yourself to decide which ones fit your needs.
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Author: Kurt
Date: 2000-02-13 20:20
Ok, I'll say it: Try plastic reeds. Very consistant and impervious to weather changes. I've been pretty happy with the one I've tried. Even looks like a reed and has the texture of one too. At the very least they make good emergency reeds.
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Author: Sal
Date: 2000-02-13 23:31
After struggling with numerous brands, Vandoran's inconsistency being the most frustrating, I've gone back to Rico Royals. The last two boxes have yielded 20 consistent reeds that play well and perform smoothly. I'm curious why more players don't go back to these underrated reeds. I see no reason to stray from Rico's blue box.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2000-02-13 23:35
Sal wrote:
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I'm curious why more players don't go back to these underrated reeds.
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Because they really, ah, sound bad on my clarinet. Mitchell Lurie & Grand Concerts (same company - Rico International) work very well for me.
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Author: Keil
Date: 2000-02-13 23:41
I know why we don't return to Rico's, because all through high school we were brain washed into thinking that Rico's are for the immature player. Me, i've never played on Rico Royals but i have played on regular ricos, hated them. I think that once the stigma is gone then we will play on them. AT my school no Rico Reeds are allowed inside of the band room or on any instrument
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2000-02-14 00:47
Keil - they let Grand Concerts & Mitchell Lurie's in though, don't they :^)
The Royals aren't bad - it's just that they don't sound good on my setup.
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Author: Keil
Date: 2000-02-14 01:00
anything other than a Vandoran is somewhat frowned upon
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Author: Max
Date: 2000-02-14 02:57
You might want to check the part of this site out that deals with reeds and carving them. Its for sax, but seems helpful.
http://www.geocities.com/BourbonStreet/Delta/7851/diagnosis.html
Also, is the M13 mp much like the B45? I understand that B45s are really designed for 2.5 to 3.5 reeds. I've used the M13 mouthpiece (its on my kid's clarinet now) and it seems real similar.
My kid and I tried Rico Royals, they were fairly consisent, but we went back to Van Dorens. My kid (11 yo) would not even finish off his box, he hated them. He hated the tone.
I was willing to adjust to them, but much prefer VDs.
Ginny
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2000-02-14 03:19
Keil wrote:
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anything other than a Vandoran is somewhat frowned upon
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Well, that's pretty stupid. There's plenty of other high-quality reeds out there!
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Author: Hiroshi
Date: 2000-02-14 05:20
Alexander Superial or Alexander Classic(Morre look alike) are good. Especally the latter. No sanding is necessary.It last incredibly long. If you like to extend longer, keep it at a dry place such as near ceiling for 6 month for aging.
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Author: Hiroshi
Date: 2000-02-14 06:37
1)Vandoren's tip thickness are unbalanced between left and right. Always same tendency.May be designed as such to compensate rotation by right thum.
2)Too much sanding of the flat surface is merely killing the reed I think. All sand papers consists of polishing agents. It is easily understood that reed bottom surface fibers are permeated by those agents and lose its vibrancy.
By the way, sand paper should be patched on the quite a flat surface and reeds should be sanded on it. Vandoren sells this: one side with a coase sand paper, another side with a fine sand paper.
3)Climatization: The phenomenon that reed does not work under another climate is quite usual. Some people ask their freinds to keep a stock of reeds for climatization before playing at the freind's place.
4)I think present Vandoren is not what it used to be.
I read somewhere that Var region's canes are damaged by the untimely chilling weather in the mid 1980's and that they cannot supply such a big mass of cane supply to reeds manufacturers.
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Author: steve
Date: 2000-02-14 21:37
: Reed Trouble... will it ever end?
no.
death. taxes. bad reeds.
s.
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Author: BAC
Date: 2000-02-15 01:10
I just starting to have the same problems with VD reeds - I also tried the silver box. I just bought 2 reeds from each box (3 1/2) for a total of 4 reeds. I got two good ones, one from each - thats only a 50% hit rate!
Has any heard of or tried Brancher reeds?
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Author: col
Date: 2000-02-15 08:33
Just thought i would write and say that you should try the Australian Vintage Reeds but make sure they are the XL ones and not the regular ones. They tend to be slightly harder than Vandoren and far more consistent. I have found that they have a much longer life as well, and can last up to 3 - 4 weeks when alternated say between 2, and that is doing about 3 hrs a day practice . My current teacher here in australia is working with vintage to improve their reeds and recently he has advised ( strongly ) that all his students change to this brand. Perhaps the best thing about vintage reeds are that they have not got the demand of vandoren ( that could make them more expensive in the US im not sure ) so they can select from the crop and let it age, unlike vandoren which has to supply alot more reeds using whatever they can ( in a manner of speaking ). Also Vintage reeds don't use the chemicals that Vandoren and many other reed makers do to remove the natural staining in the reeds. A last but not least they have a honeyish smell which is cool ( and yes i know that has nothing to do with improving the reed in anyway ) .
I think you should try them if possible.
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Author: Dee
Date: 2000-02-15 13:41
Many reed difficulties can be minimized by some very simple actions.
1. If the reed seems to act too soft, move it up on the mouthpiece a hair and/or move the ligature up a hair.
2. If the reed seems to act too hard, move it down on the mouthpiece a hair and/or move the ligature down a hair.
3. If you need a "between" size reed, buy the softer reed and trim a hair off the end with a reed trimmer.
4. If a reed seems sluggish or unbalanced, try moving it a hair to one side or the other.
These four simple things can help compensate for weather/climate variations and also greatly improve the yield from a box of reeds. This will minimize the amount of time and work spent on customizing your reeds.
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Author: connie
Date: 2000-02-15 19:38
Keil -
Dee's suggestions work for a lot of reeds, but eventually they seem to need some adjustment when they've been played on for awhile. If you're studying privately, your teacher should be able to give you some guidance. My daughter's teacher in Norfolk spent a fair amount of time with her (and with me too) showing us some basic techniques, and it was much easier to understand than from reading books or web-advice. If you need to, e-mail me and I'll give you some names for reed help.
I've tried Rico Royals, Mitchell Lurie, and Gigliotti, but I don't like the sound as much as what I can get from a good Vandoren. Sounds like maybe I ought to try the Australian Vintage XL's.
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Author: BAC
Date: 2000-02-16 01:03
I just measured my VD and V12 reeds (all 3 1/2). I have two good ones, and they meassure .0065 to .007 across the length of the tip. All the others that do not sound as nice measure .0085 to .009 - a bit of a jump in thickness. Is it simply a matter of bringing these "thick" one down to .0065?
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Author: HTW
Date: 2000-02-20 03:07
Last summer, I got really fed up with Vandorens' inconsistancy too. I tried some other brands but I've yet to find a reed with the same beautiful tone and response as a good Vandoren reed. You've heard everybody say "tone comes first"- well, I'm willing to deal with inconsistancy for the tone I want. I've found the less I fuss with Vandorens the nicer they are. Don't make a big production out of trying and adjusting them, just do what needs to be done and leave them alone. Ever since I've started doing that, they behave beautifully for me. Vandoren V12s forever!
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