 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: joevacc
Date: 2000-07-23 04:53
Hi all,
Just got my first Legere a few days ago and something weird happened. I was playing and my wife said "That sounds nice"- something I don't hear often... ;~) So I thanked her and quickly put on my best V12! Not to say this is the best reed I ever heard but it was a decent one. I played the same thing again and called to get another opinion. She said "eh!" She thought that the Legere was mellower and "not as shrill". I personally was pleasantly surprised playing the Legere and plan to keep one or two around to help save good cane reeds from my incessant trying to reach ''''C# gracefully. The Legere, to me, did not seem to have the centered sound I have achieved with a good cane reed. The instant playability was something that put a huge grin on my face though. I guess I'm looking for comments on the synthetic versus cane argument! Do Legere's come good and bad? I am sorry I bored you with the rest of this but what the heck...
jv
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Author: Wyatt Pedigo
Date: 2000-07-23 05:39
I'm an adult novice. I use a Legere reed. I've never played clarinet in a group.
When I arrive for my weekly lesson, my instructor invites me to Warm up. I play toodle-oodle-oodle doodle-doodle, and he says,"Oh, you're already warmed up! Then, let's...." I love my Legere reeds, but I do worry how they might sound if I ever try playing them ensemble.
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Author: Paul Lester
Date: 2000-07-23 05:47
I've played the Legeres for several months now. I've noticed that continous playing for several hours tends to cause some loss of strength. I wrote Legere about this situation and they suggested that I rotate through three or more reeds per session. And, even suggested that I give the reed a couple days rest between use.
I now have four Legere #3 3/4 reeds which I rotate every hour or so.
When I purchased the first Legere I was under the impression that they lasted for a long, long time!
For me the Legere articulation isn't as clean as the V12s.
But they are sure easy to like and use though.
Cheers,
Paul
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Author: SusieQ
Date: 2000-07-24 00:54
Legere reeds have been the best thing that has happend to my bass clarinet playing in a long time, I don't sound as stuffy and have great projection. I don't think they sound as good as the best cane reed, but it has been years since I have found a "best" cane reed for bass clarinet. They do soften up a bit after an hour or two, if it isn't convenient to change reed at the time, push it up a bit just slightly past the tip on the mouthpiece. That seemed help me.
SusieQ
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Author: Ray Swing
Date: 2000-07-24 01:21
I've been using the Legere on by clarinet and sax for close to a year now and find them very good. They are not as good as my excellent V12's but for my Big Band work, they are always ready to play. No need to insure they have been moistened between useage. Same goes for my playing in the Town band when marching. They take a beating and I don't worry about them in the heat and humidity and they project very well.
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Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2000-07-24 02:48
At the Clarinetfest the Legere booth was one of the busiest and sitting at my own booth between two mouthpiece makers I saw more than a few good players show up to try out mouthpieces with a new Legere reed in hand but --- from my own experience -- it depends a lot on what mouthpiece you play on how they sound compared to a traditional cane reed. Since I am the "Green Doctor" I knew that it was a sin to even consider a synthetic reed, but during one particularily slow period I found myself marching off to the Legere booth with full intent to get one of those new reeds for myself (and deny it if ever asked if I played one). I tried my usual reed strength and it just did not sound right so they suggested going up in strength which I did until I was in the stratosphere in reed strength without any improvement. I was a little put off when they suggested that maybe it was me that just did not sound right so I slapped on my cane reed and played some mellow notes to prove that I could play in tune if I tried really hard. They then asked what mouthpiece I was playing and said that they had experienced similar results with others playing that brand (a famous custom MP maker). So my hopes were dashed at my first attempt at using their reeds. A word to the wise would suggest that different people have had varied results with the new synthetics ( of course different players either love or hate various natural cane reed products too!)
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Author: SusieQ
Date: 2000-07-24 14:26
One thing no one has metioned yet is Legere's return policy, of a 30 day money back or trade guarantee. If the other reed makers would do the same we would all be better off and maybe the quality would be better. I don't mind sacraficing a little tone for not having to spend hundreds of dollars on reeds.
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Author: Fred
Date: 2000-07-24 16:47
For those of us that are less well-informed, how do you pronounce "Legere"? Thanks!
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Author: Mokmo
Date: 2000-07-24 21:24
Fred...
You pronounce it
lay-jair
(the j not sounding like "dj")
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