 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Mario
Date: 2001-03-07 22:09
Hello:
One more thread on the never ending quest for the perfect read.
I am a power user of Legere Reeds (many of them, in rotation, for quite a while).
Recently, I decided to compare my Legere to Vandoren Hand Selected and to RICO Evolution. I have an excellent set-up (Rossi, Gregory Smith, EDII Lig.)
Here are my observations:
Vandoren V12 Hand Select: yes, there are more good reeds in a box, and they are more similar to each others. Besides this, they have nothing special to offer that you cannot get by working a bit on normal Vandoren. My Legere are much better for my set-up and working habits.
RICO Evolution: Surprise here. Looks like great reeds. Let me try to position them versus my Legere.
Pure Tone Color Quality: Legere is slightly better. The sound (while more compact) has a refined feel with little buzz if any. Sometime wish that my Chalumeau would vibrate more, but my clarion and altissimo have great color.
No, it is not because my reed is too strong. the Chalumeau problem I am refering too is not akin to the breathy feel you get with strong reed. It is just that I cannot push the volume as hard as I would like too. feels like the reed cannot take it.
Tone Body (hard to describe what I mean here - but I am refering to the stength of the tone fundation). RICO is incredible - you feel that your sound, while slightly less refined than the Legere, is solid like a rock. This is true for all registers, but is especially interesting versus my Legere for the Chalumeau.
Volume: RICO is amazing. I can still play as piannissiom as with my Legere, I have a much better top end dynamic-wise.
Responsiveness to staccato, especially with clarion long tube note: RICO EVOLUTION is fantastic. Actually, Legere are always a little bit sluggish in this area and I must work extra hard for clear articulation with B-C-D.
Performance in Altissimo register: Legere is simply fabulous, with RICO behaving like most cane reeds and loosing their quality as you go high - Natural fibers do not seem to like to vibrate too fast.
So, at this stage, I am back on a quest. I have lost the habits of working my reeds and maybe the RICO evolution can be improved a bit to give it a more refined tone and better response in the highs. YES, the reeds I used were balanced (I remember that much). On the other, if Legere would have more POP around B-C-D..
But gosh I loved to solid, full sound of the RICO. A little too brassy for proper Chamber music, but absolutely incredible for Jazz.
Has anybody tried the new Evolution out there?
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Author: Mario
Date: 2001-03-07 22:20
Just to clarify: The RICO Evolution is a new brand of reeds from RICO. It is targetted as classical musicians and seems - branding-wise - to be positioned as a derivative of the Grand Concert series. Nothing to do with the RICO Royal stuff inflicted on unsuspecting students by mis-informed marching band leaders.
This is why I am puzzled by the reed property: Solid, strong and a tad brassy, instead of solid, strong and refined.
Mecanically, their cut is impeccable and looks very much like a V-12. Balancing them required very little work, and in several cases just required moving them slightly left or right on the mouthpiece. They appear consistent in a box of 10, with differences actually similar to the range you have with Legere (touted as extremely consistent). I could even perceived strength just by moving the reed up and down on the mouthpiece
All these motions were minimal. You are talking good quality control here.
I will work a few of them by the book and see if I can refine them without destroying their other properties.
I cannot wait to try the new BG synthetic reeds: Cane core, epoxy envelop. According to the publicity: The best of cane, the consistency and durability of synthetic. They have been released for Saxes so far. Still waiting for a clarinet version.
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Author: Hiroshi
Date: 2001-03-08 03:42
Evolution's talon(heel) thickness is that between Grand Concert Thick Blanc and
Grand Concert. Provably around 2.8mm, which is the minimum thickness required
to get good projection according to Guy Dungun. (V12 heel is specified 3.15mm).
I feel it somewhat lacks in sweetness of tone of Rigotti or Steur Frenc cut.
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Author: Boffin
Date: 2001-03-08 18:38
Did you know you spell reed 'R.E.E.D?'
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Author: Betsy Reveal
Date: 2001-03-08 19:28
I am also a devoted Legere fan but have been very, very impressed with the Evolutions. I polayed both the Mozart Konsertante and the Scaramouche with my orchestra in concert last Saturday and had four almost equally good Evolutions and one perfect Legere in case of a crisis. Even with a very loud orchestra I was able to penetrate with the Evolution.....hate being back in the cane care business but its nice to know I can switch back and forth pretty easily.....
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Author: Daniel
Date: 2001-03-20 05:14
I just got back from Chicago and a trip to IMS. Since there aren't any decent shops like that in Houston, I stocked up on several brands of reeds to try. I bought my usual Vandorens, a box of the Evolution to try, and a box of Marcas (i like to work them down to my strength, great cane and good basic cut), anda box of Steuers to try.
I must say, I've always hated the Grand Concert line in the past, but these Evolutions are amazing. I only started breaking in 5, but all 5 played right outta the box. A couple were a bit too soft (which i'll just have to clip a tad), and one was slightly stiff (took care of that on the ReeDual), but the other two were right on.
Overall, i still like a good Vandoren, but the Evolution reeds will work very well for me too. I'll see how long these reeds last and if they are satisfacroty over time, they may take the place of my Vandorens.
On the Steuer side. They are, well... different. Not bad, but not quite the same as the Evo's and Van's. The ones that were a bit hard, i stuck on the ReeDual and was happy with the results. The cut is just a bit short still for my Kaspar, but the machine fixed that. THey seem to have a reedier, more German quality to the sound. Which only seems natual, being made in Germany. :-) I will be sure to keep some of them in my case as well.
As for Legere. I've never found a Legere that could pass for a cane reed so i've never bought one. They are fine if you spend hours in a practice room playing scales or if you're in a pit orchestra playing sax or flute for half a show before you have to pick up your clarinet cold and play a lick. But for serious expressive playing, i just can't get the nuances and fine details to come through.
Daniel
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