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Re: ClarinetFest 2019 Update

Author: MarkS
Date: 2019-07-30 21:22

Hello All,

I have been enjoying your postings for a little while, but have not posted before. Until about three months ago, I was playing on a Robert DiLutis 4.0 reed, and it worked well for me. Then I decided to try Legere European Signature. I tried 3.5 initially, but changed to 3.75 to get better definition in altissimo. I have been pretty happy with the result, but I felt that the tone on certain notes was not as good as on the cane reeds.

I have been trying out Silverstein Ambipoly 4.0 reeds for the last four days. I contacted Silverstein Works to ask them which strength corresponded to Legere ES 3.75. No specific response, but they referred me to a chart that compares strength only to Vandoren V12 and Rico Reserve. I used that information and my knowledge of the relationship between DiLutis and V12 to guess that 4.0 would be about right. That seems to be the case.

So far I am very happy with the tone over the full range--much better than the Legere ES. My only concern has been that the reed seems a little "buzzy" from middle C down. However, it seems possible to eliminate this either by minor adjustment in embouchure pressure or by moving the reed up slightly on the mouthpiece. I am guessing that as my embouchure gets used to the new type of reed, this issue will go away.

In general, the reed seems to have the best qualities of both cane and synthetic. Also, in contrast to the Legere, it seems to be possible to adjust the apparent strength by moving the reed up or down without destroying the tone.

By the way, I am using a Grabner Virtuoso mouthpiece (medium open) with Silverstein A-style ligature.

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