 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: Agomongo
Date: 2015-11-22 04:30
I was wondering if any of you guys have tried the Pilgerstorfer Morre, Dolce, Rondo, Exquisite, and German. Also, the Leuthner French, German, and Vienna. What do you guys think of them?
It's a little interesting that the German, Morre, and Vienna are sold considering that those are made for German clarinets. Do they actually work on the French mouthpiece?
I'm not really in the market for a new reed, because I still love the D'Addario Reserve, but it doesn't hurt to experiment!
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: CEC
Date: 2015-11-22 06:59
I have tried the Morre, Dolce and Rondo. The cane, cut and consistency of these reeds is simply superb. How they will work for you will depend on your set-up and tonal concept. I love the dolce and rondo, but the morre are very bright for me (Fobes CF+, Woodstone brushed gold ligature, R13). Try the sample pack. Mr. Clark Fobes (who imports them) will be glad to answer your questions about the German Cut reeds, I'm sure!
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Agomongo
Date: 2015-11-22 08:09
CEC wrote:
> I have tried the Morre, Dolce and Rondo. The cane, cut and
> consistency of these reeds is simply superb. How they will work
> for you will depend on your set-up and tonal concept. I love
> the dolce and rondo, but the morre are very bright for me
> (Fobes CF+, Woodstone brushed gold ligature, R13). Try the
> sample pack. Mr. Clark Fobes (who imports them) will be glad to
> answer your questions about the German Cut reeds, I'm sure!
I probably will try his sample pack and I probably will call him later this week. Tried today, but not response sadly...
Anyway yeah I've always loved the D'Addario, because of it's brighter and lighter sound. I've always tried to go for that Mark Nuccio and Martin Frost tone quality. That's why I never stuck with a Vandoren, because it gave a very dark sound.
Do you have a guess to which reed I would probably like?
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: maxopf
Date: 2015-11-22 08:54
I tried Pilgerstorfers for a while, probably a little over a year ago. I liked the Dolces, and the Rondos were quite good too. The Morrés were very brilliant sounding, almost too brilliant for me, although I'd be curious to try them again since I've made some changes to my technique since then.
The Exquisite reeds are Viennese cut — very thick heel. I tried them after Mr. Fobes gave me some when I visited his shop in SF about a year ago, and initially I really liked them, but I pretty quickly started to notice issues with articulation — a little tubby, and occasionally I got chirps. Could've been a reed-mouthpiece mismatch or just my technique back then.
More recently I was using Leuthners. They were also quite good, I think I liked them better than the Pilgerstorfers. This summer I switched back to V12s, but that's just a preference thing, not because the Leuthners were bad.
If you're going for a brighter/lighter sound, try the French cut Pilgerstorfer sample pack and the Leuthners.
Post Edited (2015-11-22 08:55)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: CEC
Date: 2015-11-22 09:21
The Rondos have a wonderful, ringing sound. Very clean and focused. The Morres are even more brilliant, as maxopf noted. I suspect you'll prefer both of those over the Dolces. They are both very different sounding than either of the D'addario cuts. The Leuthners have a similar tonal color to the morres, but a different texture. Like comparing champagne to a hefeweizen beer
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2015-11-22 17:19
Just have to add my opinion to this.
If the German reeds to which you refer are indeed cut (shaped) to actual German specifications (such as Vandoren White Masters), the vamp is too short (and the points along the vamp hit the wrong spots) and too flat (not as curved a cut side to side) to work properly on a French style facing. And that is besides the fact that the reeds are narrower.
It may be an apt analogy to say it would be like putting a Mercedes transmission into a BMW. The gears just wouldn't fit right together.
That said I extend my eternal thanks to all you guys who DO use the wrong reeds on your mouthpieces. It makes it so much easier to get White Master reeds in the US !!!!!!
...................Paul Aviles
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: CEC
Date: 2015-11-22 20:58
All the reeds I've tried were French cut (including the Leuthners - although Mr. Fobes offers a German cut version). The Exquisites, I believe, are only "Viennese" in terms of thickness. Walter Grabner is a fan of them.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: maxopf
Date: 2015-11-22 22:20
Just tried a couple of my old Exquisits. None of the chirping I experienced back then — that was just me adding excess jaw pressure.
At the proper blowing resistance, they seem soft, if that makes any sense. A 2.5 Exquisit equaled a 3.5+ V12 for me in terms of how much air I had to push through and in terms of the overall sound, but the Exquisit seemed more "responsive" to changes in embouchure (closes up when you add too much pressure) and the articulation was "buzzier" like a softer reed, whereas the V12 was a little stiffer. I prefer the extra "hold" of the V12, but the Exquisit might be ideal for someone who wants to use very little embouchure pressure.
Post Edited (2015-11-22 22:23)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Agomongo
Date: 2015-11-23 00:33
It seems like from what I've read the Leuthner and Pilfer... maybe good for me. Though it still won't hold me back from trying the other reeds. I remember asking my teacher and another clarinet player about the reeds. They liked them and said that after break in they sounded great. However, my teacher did go back to the V12's I don't really remember why.
I am wondering what the difference between German, Viennese, and French. I hear German clarinet players like Leister, Meyer, and Ottensamer and they sound completely different from each other. Then I hear Nuccio, McGill, and Manasse and hear different tone qualities. Could someone perhaps give me a quick run through of the terms?
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2015-11-23 03:40
As far as OVER ARCHING sound quality goes, it is a matter of listening. If you don't hear a trend of one "school" vs. another, then I wouldn't worry about it.
.................Paul Aviles
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Agomongo
Date: 2015-11-23 10:01
Paul Aviles wrote:
> As far as OVER ARCHING sound quality goes, it is a matter of
> listening. If you don't hear a trend of one "school" vs.
> another, then I wouldn't worry about it.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> .................Paul Aviles
>
I see thank you very much!
Another question I have is about the Legere reeds. Maybe I've already posted about this but I don't remember. When I play them I just can't make them work. I've bought 4 different sizes 3 of each size and a fair amount of time to work, but they never seem to work. I've tried to use the CL6, Hawkins, and the Reserve mouthpiece, but NONE of them worked with the Legere's. I got a bright, edgy, and harsh tone when I tried to play on them. Anyone have a guess as to why?
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2015-11-23 16:03
Besides strength, there are also a number of different styles of French Legere reeds. I was most fond of the Quebec cut because it had the most material in the center and managed a good focused sound. I hear now that this is a discontinued item so I don't know what to recommend for French clarinet.
The problem for me on the Legere is that they have a VERY narrow "sweet spot" for resonance. So getting the best sound meant that I couldn't vary pitch (or timbre) much at all without losing this "spot." It may be that you are over playing the strengths that you have (pinching, biting). Players that use very little embouchure pressure at all will probably be more compatible with the Legere reed.
I am going into an experiment with German mouthpieces (on a Boehm horn) with German (NICK Kuckmeier) cut Legere. Traditionally, German mouthpieces use very little embouchure control and soft reeds (2 1/2 strength or so). Hopefully I will have some input to share on this aspect in a few weeks.
..............Paul Aviles
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: ClarinetRobt
Date: 2015-11-24 02:35
Agomongo:
Brad Behn recommended the Leuthner (which he sells) when I bought a mouthpiece and I never looked back. My experience is almost identical as maxopf.
Leuthner nudges out Pilgerstorfers and Morre struck me as bright, maybe even edgy.
~Robt L Schwebel
Mthpc: Behn Vintage
Lig: Ishimori, Behn Delrin
Reed: Legere French Cut 3.75/4, Behn Brio 4
Horns: Uebel Superior (Bb,A), Ridenour Lyrique, Buffet R13 (Eb)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Agomongo
Date: 2015-11-24 12:58
ClarinetRobt wrote:
> Agomongo:
> Brad Behn recommended the Leuthner (which he sells) when I
> bought a mouthpiece and I never looked back. My experience is
> almost identical as maxopf.
> Leuthner nudges out Pilgerstorfers and Morre struck me as
> bright, maybe even edgy.
>
I'll check them out then! They sound like promising, but they're going to have to blow me away for me to make an official check. Also, which mouthpiece did you buy with it?
@Aviles
From what I've heard Wenzel Fuchs say the Legere's have more synergy with Viennese mouthpieces. They stay on better and the tone is better or something like that. Wondering if the Germans mouthpieces could be the same...
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: maxopf
Date: 2015-11-28 03:15
I just stumbled upon one of my unused boxes of Leuthners the other day, and decided to break them in to see how they worked with my newer Fobes mouthpiece. I really like them a lot, I think I may possibly switch back from V12s. The best ones are really responsive and easier to play than the V12s I've been using, but still sound very good.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Agomongo
Date: 2015-11-28 13:39
maxopf wrote:
> I just stumbled upon one of my unused boxes of Leuthners the
> other day, and decided to break them in to see how they worked
> with my newer Fobes mouthpiece. I really like them a lot, I
> think I may possibly switch back from V12s. The best ones are
> really responsive and easier to play than the V12s I've been
> using, but still sound very good.
Sounds promising then. Perhaps I'll make a switch if it's that impressive. From how people have described the Leuthner I'm guessing the V12's sound pretty different, right?
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
