 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Ebclarinet1
Date: 2009-02-18 19:57
When looking over the Hite mouthpiece site I noticed that they recommended the Van Doren Java saxophone reeds for their alto clarinet mouthpieces. I had never tried them and ordered a box just to see what they would do on the alto clarinet. The answer is WOW.
The greatly improved the response I was getting on the Hite mouthpuiece conmpared to the Gonzalez alto sax, Van Doren alto clarinet, and several other brands. Most amazingly they seem to improve my sound on all the other mouthpieces. The Grabner alto mouthpiece with the Java reeds was particularly amazing. I have been practicing Honnes' "Hommage a Andre Jolivet" a rather difficult but pretty alto clarinet solo and this combo really took the piece to a new level in expression and sound.
What distinguishes the Java reeds from the "normal" Van Doren reeeds and why does tis one work so well on the alto clarinet mouthpieces??
Does someone need tp tel Van Doren that this reed works great on alto and they should start marketing it as such??
EEfer guy
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2009-02-18 20:13
They're a bit thinner in the vamp and spine, so yes they're more responsive, but probably sound buzzier and/or reedier as a consequence. Fine for jazz, maybe not so fine for classical? But in the end it boils down to the facing on your particular mouthpiece as to what sort of reed works best on it. Yours probably has a fairly short facing curve which would tend to work better with a thinner-cut reed.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2009-02-18 21:35
I use alto sax Javas on basset horn and they respond and sound well, though I might try alto sax V16s to see how they compare.
The adagio from 'Gran Partita' was on the radio earlier, not sure who the basset hornist was on this recording but they put everything they had into it - orchestra of St.Luke's I think it was.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Ebclarinet1
Date: 2009-02-19 17:18
Dave & Chris,
Thanks for the comments on the Java reeds. On the Grabner and Hite mouthpieces they certainly don't sound buzzy at all. A very clean sound. I just gave it a whirl on the basset horn and it's the same improvement there.
As good as this Prestige alto is it's even better with the Java reeds.
How do the V16 sax reeds differ from the Java Chris?
The Gran Partita is such fun; basset horn becomes a star! When I play basset horn in public, people are always excited to hear it and how pretty it is. So many people have never heard one in person. They are expecting "dull" or "somber" but it's so more than that. The Mendelsohn pieces are a great example of a BRIGHT sound on basset horn.
Eefer guy
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