 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Alexis
Date: 2009-08-25 23:35
Hi,
I wonder how many hits this subject will get...
I was curious if there are any sales figures about what strengths of reeds were sold more than others. For example in Australia I would expect the best sold reed to be V12 3.5, followed by 3 and 4's same brand - purely anecdotal, but I think probably correct.
Are there any statistics anywhere? I did a quick google and got nothing.
Anyway, the next question. If a particular reed is really well sold, will that drive the quality of the product down? Or is the cane for all reed strengths harvested at the same time?
Apologies for the ignorance - I try not to think about reeds more than I have to.
Cheers
Alex
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Author: NBeaty
Date: 2009-08-26 00:01
Generally speaking the less common strengths, and less common brands, generally sit on the shelf longer so would therefore be older cane than more popular ones.
Buying a box of V12's is a pretty safe bet you're getting some of the "fresher" cane that is available. As far as what that means for the quality, I'm not so sure. High demand could mean that quality would go down. But it may not.
I would guess that out of a harvest of cane, there would be relatively equal number of various strengths. The difference would not be significant anyway. However, like I said, if you go buy a box of 1.5's they are probably going to be much older than the box of 3.5's or 4's due to demand.
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Author: 2E
Date: 2009-08-26 01:05
Alexis said "For example in Australia I would expect the best sold reed to be V12 3.5, followed by 3 and 4's same brand - purely anecdotal, but I think probably correct."
What is this based on? I know many players who choose Vandoren though, there are plenty who are dissatisfied with them and now play on Rico, Gonzalez and even Reeds Australia who grow and cure their cane in South Australia (Adelaide, I believe?). My teacher in the Queensland Orchestra was so fed up with reeds that he made his own by hand for many many years.
In response to your question, I guess the major manufacturers would have their own sales figures though not in comparison to other companies.
2E
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Author: Alexis
Date: 2009-08-26 19:35
2E - I'm just talking from personal experience of teachers, AYO, music camps etc. Queensland is a bit different I think because Floyd was/is quite open-minded about reeds - hence Paul playing Mitchell Luries and Brian doing something else. But I would say all of MSO use Vandoren 4 or 3.5, the WASO section does, Frank at SSO uses Vandoren. Several of the teachers at Sydney use them. In retrospect, I feel QLD is in the minority actually!
My question - phrased better.
I just wondered if they were forced to use lower quality cane for the higher sold to reeds to keep up with the demand. Is it possible that the cane produced for size 5 reeds or 2.5 reeds is somehow better than that sold for the (arguably) more common sizes?
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Author: Caroline Smale
Date: 2009-08-26 23:05
It was my understanding in the past that all reeds were made from the same cane stocks and to the same dimensions and that the strength grading was just the last step in the production process. The manufacturers didn't just set up lines to produce say 3.5 strength reeds.
Has this process changed recently?
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2009-08-26 23:15
Norman Smale wrote:
> It was my understanding in the past that all reeds were made
> from the same cane stocks and to the same dimensions and that
> the strength grading was just the last step in the production
> process. The manufacturers didn't just set up lines to produce
> say 3.5 strength reeds.
That was my understanding as well. The only "improvement" they could have made in this time that they will machine batches of thin, medium, thick reeds which are then measured and put into #1..#5 boxes.
Cane is, after all, a natural product and machining to close specs is next to impossible, as physical dimensions don't necessarily correlate with stiffness and other properties.
--
Ben
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Author: Rusty
Date: 2009-08-27 02:08
I guess a call around the stores would return the info but I`m a bit surprised if the selection is Vandoren 3.5 and 4s.
It seems in my area (of Aus.) there are heaps of young folk (early teens) who take up clarinet playing ,because it is a low cost instrument, play for a year or two and then move onto other interests. As beginners I doubt they would be blowing on Van 4s.
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Author: William
Date: 2009-08-27 02:22
"Cane is, after all, a natural product and machining to close specs is next to impossible"
And that is why I've switched to the new Forestone reed which, for me, plays and sounds just like the best cane reed (if not better), and is remarkably consistant, requires no prep--balancing, break-in, etc--and remains strong throughout the entire gig. They are now making their soprano reeds in nine strengths from 2 through 4.5 (which correlates to 1.5 through 5 in cane) with each reed clearly marked. On my Chicago Kaspar #14, I am playing Forestone #4's and every reed simply sings. What a pleasure it is to not fight the inconsistancies and quirks of cane. I can now spend all my time playing the music, and not the reed. BTW, I do use Legere #3 reeds on my Grabner CX_BS bass clarinet mouthpiece with excellant success in orchestra and wind ensemble venues. However, I'm waiting for the *F* bass reed which they have been promising for quite some time now........
Whatever, synthetic will no doubt be the reed material of the future--but for me, the future has already arrived.
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Author: skygardener
Date: 2009-08-27 03:11
Alexis,
I think your best bet to find the sales stats you want would be to contact several of the larger retailers and ask them what they sell the most of.
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Author: Barry Vincent
Date: 2009-08-27 22:18
Spot on Rusty the future has indeed already arrived! Been using em for about 5 months now. Will never go back to cane reeds again.
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Author: Bassie
Date: 2009-08-28 17:36
Over the counter I bet more 2.5s are sold than anything else, to students who want individual reeds. Certainly if you go into a music shop round this neck of the woods you can expect to see a /really/ old box of No. 4 Vandoren on the shelf, suggesting they don't shift many of that strength!
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