 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: William
Date: 2009-05-14 20:11
Just want to report having just played two performances of Peter & the Wolf during which the cat themes and the chase solo (up the tree) were all made effortless by a Forestone -3 reed on my Chicago Kaspar #14. The reed responded with crisp staccatto and a full, rich sound from the lowest E3 up through the high F#6 and elicited a "You sound GREAT!!" from both the concertmast and the conductor following the second show. During the solos, I felt as if the sound was literally filling the auditorium, a sense that I do not often get from most cane reeds. I may just be "hooked" on these new reeds, but am reserving final judgement until completion of all my summer concerts where I hpe to find out just how well these reeds hold up for the "long haul". But for now, Forestone seems to be my new reed of choice. No muss nor fuss--they just play beautifully.
May 14, 2009
Beloit/Janesville Symphony Orchestra annual student concerts at Beloit Memorial High School for all district 5th grade students.
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Author: Arnoldstang
Date: 2009-05-15 01:37
Re the strength.... -3 how does this compare to Vandoren? thanks
Freelance woodwind performer
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Author: USFBassClarinet
Date: 2009-05-15 03:26
so far from what I've read on here I'm rather excited about these things. Just need a bass reed :P. I'm rather satisfied with the basic legere right now but haven't made a switch to them exclusively. I'm hoping Forestone will push out a bass reed and legere will hurry up with its' new one.
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Author: buedsma
Date: 2009-05-15 07:20
I'm also exclusively playing on forestone now . I can't get myself to go back to cane reeds what should be enough ( subsconcious ) proof that i like them :-)
Hmm maybe that's my psychology education there..
Anyway , some questions for you : i tried , on a vandoren B45 , all the reeds from cl-3 till c-3. The two strongest ones don't play very well because too strong for this type of mouthpiece i believe, so i just tried them very briefly.
I noticed that with the light versions ( any of the cl ones , light brown ) you can play up to altissimo G or A , but then there is really a problem to switch to Bb or B . YOu suddenly have to excert more pressure . Too much pressure for that region of notes to be usable .
With the stronger series of reeds , from which i only tried c-3, the pressure needed is a lot less , so there i am capable of playing up to altissimo C. Above that there is still nothing playable for me . Super altissimo C#, D and Eb , playable with very good cane reeds , don't play at all.
These are only remarks for those who produce them . I still don't know which ones are my preferred strenght , but i am certainly going to order a few more .
I'm VERY PLEASED with the quality of the four reeds i tried .
Another question : what about the sound of those reeds in altissimo ??
your opinions ?? Compared to cane of course .
Post Edited (2009-05-15 07:39)
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2009-05-15 12:45
>>Just want to report having just played two performances of Peter & the Wolf during which the cat themes and the chase solo (up the tree) were all made effortless by a Forestone -3 reed on my Chicago Kaspar #14. >>
I'm making my stupid pet human type this. Lelia will think she's fallen asleep at the computer when in reality I've been controlling her squishy gray brain. (Really, you'd think primate brains would've adapted by now for greater efficiency with less bulk, like feline brains. Those big, bulging primate brains are as weak as room-sized computers and as obsolete as the command consoles with the clunky huge buttons on the bridge of NC-1701 -- the original, not the one in that fancy new movie.)
Cat themes? Chase solo up the tree?! Playing the feline voice with a screech stick (I don't give half a mew what reed you stick on it) is disgusting, obscene, unforgiveable! Do you have any idea what that so-called musical instrument of yours really says when you think you're imitating a cat? Hiss! Spit! Down with Peter and the Wolf! Down with screech-sticks!
Sssssst!
Shadow Cat
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
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Author: Pappy
Date: 2009-05-15 19:00
I got good improvement in the upper altissimo by clipping the c-3 a bit (on a Genussa GE**). Still a bit too much need to mess around with my embouchure for me to use them all the time but I still play them pretty often.
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Author: Dileep Gangolli
Date: 2009-05-15 19:09
The Legere seems to work better for me than the Forestone. I was unable to find something that responded and also held the sound.
Legere is great but still fall short of a good cane reed. The problem with cane is of course finding the good reed before draining your bank account.
Folks, I believe we are close to the summit of Mt. SyntheticReed.
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Author: justme
Date: 2009-05-17 06:18
Dileep Gangolli said: " Legere is great but still fall short of a good cane reed."
I was just wondering which legere reed that you're using?
From what I've been reading on different forums most seem to prefer the Ontario Cut and claim that it's more flexible and makes a difference over the other cuts...
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Author: William
Date: 2009-05-17 15:44
Justme, I have tried all of the Legere models and still prefer the original for my Bb/A mouthpiece (Chicago Kaspar #14). However, I recently had great success with the new Forestone reed "-3" strength and think that I prefer it to any of the Legere's. I will be continuing to use it and see how it holds up for the "long play". My cane reeds are V12 3.5s which definately preform more consistantly in the altissimo register, F6 and above.
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Author: justme
Date: 2009-05-17 21:37
I'm just wondering if anyone has listened to Richard Hawkins on these sound clips?
He's using only legere reeds on all of these songs!
http://www.richardhawkinsmouthpiece.com/soundclips.html
It also makes me wonder if a lot of what is actually happening here is that people are so use to playing on their particular MP/reed combo that it could in many cases be the people in question and not the synthetic reeds that are at fault?
When I hear someone playing so beautifully on a synthetic reed it really makes me wonder if it isn't just players that are having a problem adapting to the change and/or just don't have the right MP that works well enough for the synthetic reeds...
Richard Hawkins seems to do quite well with his MP and synthetic reed set up!
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Author: Dileep Gangolli
Date: 2009-05-17 21:53
I have been playing Legere reeds now for the past month, almost exclusively. I find a good Legere is better than 95% of cane reeds out of the box. It's the remaining 5% of cane reeds that can be better than the synthetic reed.
The question I pose is whether this differential is worth the $ and time investment.
I have been using the regular cut 3 3/4 and 4's with an VD M30.
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Author: MartyMagnini
Date: 2009-05-18 12:32
I completely agree with Dileep. I have been using Legeres exclusively for about a year, and the very best cane reed is better than a Legere. BUT, as Dileep pointed out, at least with my setup, the Legere (Quebec cut 3.5 or 3.75) is better than 95% of cane reeds. And to be able to play on a reed that is that good every time you play is a blessing. Personally, I didn't care for the Foreston as much, but others will prefer it. I look forward to the new Legeres!
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Author: Ed
Date: 2009-05-18 16:22
I have to say that it has not been the same for me. I have tried the Legeres a number of times- various cuts, various strengths. I have never found one that works for me even remotely. I could not practice on it, much less even consider performing on it. Those I have tried have not worked even close to a mediocre cane reed.
I am glad to hear that they work well for some. I wish I had a different experience with them, as it would be a good solution for some situations. So far, I'll stick with cane.
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Author: justme
Date: 2009-05-18 23:59
Ed said:
"I am glad to hear that they work well for some. I wish I had a different experience with them, as it would be a good solution for some situations. So far, I'll stick with cane."
Sorry to hear that they didn't work out for you.
From what I've been reading on these forums it seems that the synthetic reeds are more "MP sensitive" than many of the cane reeds, in that, it seems that some people have had to change their MP setup in order for these reeds to work for them, whereas others have not.
The Richard Hawkins mouthpieces seem to work well with them as well as
the Lyrique MPs and clarinets as well as some of those listed here.
Someday they'll perfect the synthetic reeds...
"A critic is like a eunuch: he knows exactly how it ought to be done."
CLARINET, n.
An instrument of torture operated by a person with cotton in his ears. There are two instruments that are worse than a clarinet -- two clarinets
Post Edited (2009-05-19 00:00)
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