 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Jonathan
Date: 2001-06-22 03:18
Gday,
Just finished my mid year recital ten minutes ago (played Spohr 6 German songs and the rest of the exam is going to happen in a few months time when i do a concerto with orch). In reference to those two Rico Grand concert Evolution reeds that I bought a bit over a week ago - they are now broken in, both very very similar - more so than any other reeds i've used - and I absolutely love the sound of them both. The one I just used performed very well and I'm really happy. I hope that the rest of the reeds in the box are just as good as I'm going to go soon and get the rest of the boxes they have. Maybe it's just luck (in which case I'm very lucky and am going to be very sad) or maybe someone has finally come up with reeds that are half decent!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Also of interest is that they have a really polished surface on the vamp of the reed - very shiny - almost silvery when held up to light. Also both of the reeds that I bought were balanced, and the only thing I did to them was to file the back of the reed that touches the mouthpiece to flatten and polish it (even when doing this I found that both reeds were actually almost flat!!!!!) I also filed the sides/rails of the reed as well as they weren't as smooth as I liked - this improved overall response of reed i found and also made it seem slightly softer. Other than that i'm pretty impressed.
Jonathan Farquhar (from Aus)
P.S. I don't work for Rico :-)
P.P.S. Has anyone tried Vandoren Hand Select Reeds - I have never seen them in Australia but recently noticed them selling on the net. Are they supposed to be good quality? (or are they better quality is a better way to put it) ;-)
Are they better quality Classics or are they better quality V12's or are they something else?
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Author: Mark Pinner
Date: 2001-06-22 12:26
Hi Jonathon,
An answer from Australia. I assume you got one of the sample packs of 3 reeds. Not bad I received half a dozen packs this time and 2 the time before and they are great but I havent managed to find them available commercially, with any regularity just the ordinary grand concerts. I am an avid LaVoz fan and find that the unfiled LaVoz series from soft to hard have te same dense cane and shiny finish as the Grand Concerts and can be worked especially the side rails. They are cheaper than most and easily available. Grand Concert I believe use LaVoz cane and used to be called Lavoz rand Concert.
Vandoren hand select are good but COST big time. I get samples free as a repairer and for doing masterclasses and find the hand select no better in real terms than the ordinary Vandoren/ v12 scenario.
If you like thick blank free blowing reeds try Reeds Australia Vintage XL half a strength lower than normal and trim the tip or rush a harder reed.
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Author: Jonathan
Date: 2001-06-23 06:10
Actually I bought the two reeds from a box of 10 and there are (or were when i was there) about 8 boxes of different strengths in the shop where I bought them from.
Thanks for your comments on the hand select reeds as well.
Jonathan Farquhar
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