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Synthetic reeds (french vs german cut)

Author: babrinka77
Date: 2014-06-02 11:29

Hello,
I play synthetic reeds, i don't want to go back to cane, but of course, i want to find out what the best choice when it comes to synthetic reeds is, i have tried different brands, different cuts, and i bought a mouthpiece which is suposed to be designed to play with those kind of reeds (which is what i have now).
Lately, i have been told that synthetic reeds work better in german mouthpices because german cut reeds are thiner and the tip is thicker, so they get closer to cane sound (??).
I know that some very good clarinetists here (Spain) play reform Bohem clarinets with synthetic reeds with great succes, but i haven't had the chance to hear it by myself.

Any thoughts? Any experiences?

Thanks!

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Re: Synthetic reeds (french vs german cut)

Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2014-06-02 16:34

Do you use a Nick EasyPlay mouthpiece? I have not heard this wisdom about the German cut but have suspected as much from my own trials with Legere. I have almost ordered a 'German cut' of my own but no longer have the mouthpieces or the clarinets to make them work. I am convinced now that a simple visual inspection would NOT be sufficient.

Actually I am coming to the conclusion that there may be ONE Legere strength and Cut that is the perfect balance of material and shape for Boehm system clarinets (and I know this notion is crazy in contrast to what one experiences in cane). So far ONLY the 3 3/4 Quebec cut reed has the closest sound AND articulation (that "popping" sort of staccato) to cane. I started out on the mouthpiece that I had been happy with using cane but soon realized that finding a right mouthpiece for this reed was the better way to go.

There is also the possibility that there is one ideal cut and strength Legere based on how you play!!!

I also had luck with using the equivalent number Legere Quebec to the Vandorens I use on my initial mouthpiece, but this set up is harder and the articulation is a bit stodgy.

I had tried various combinations of other strengths and cuts of the Legere with various sized mouthpieces but never got any other set up to achieve the balance in compromises: dynamics vs articulation mostly.

...............Paul Aviles

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Re: Synthetic reeds (french vs german cut)

Author: Jeroen
Date: 2014-06-03 02:13

Have had very decent results with Legere German cut on a Viotto N1 +2.
But somehow it lacks upper harmonics making the sound too dark for me.

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