 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: Carmen Izzo
Date: 2001-12-17 03:52
Hello Fellow Clarinetists,
After hearing some good comments from some friends and browsing the woodwind catologue (sp?) Ive decided to ask for two legere reeds for christmas. Now before i recieve them, can anybody tell me what i am to expect of them. I would just like to your personal experiences on playing them. NOT of what anybody has HEARD, but of what you have played on them. Thanks.
Merry Christmas
Carmen
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Mark M
Date: 2001-12-17 04:10
Not to responsive for the ones that I have played. I do play some fibracell, however, I have to caveat this. I have my LMS trained so I can go in and try out "synthetic" reeds as they can be disinfected like a mouthpiece as they are non porous. You can leave without any reeds or some that you really like and not waste money.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Ginny
Date: 2001-12-17 04:40
Neither my son nor I liked them, but many people seem to. The ones I had did not sound as nice as cane, and had some wolf tones. I used them for a while when I was very short on time...
Ginny
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Ashley
Date: 2001-12-17 04:59
I have one..I like it, for a synthetic reed anyway. Not as good as cane by a long shot, but its consistant and when I have a concert band rehearsal when I'm not in the mood to search for a decent reed, it comes in quite handy. My altissimo register (esp. above high G) doesnt speak well at all. Not good for playing scales because the high notes just plain dont come out. Sounds *almost* like cane otherwise..in the lower register anyway..... for $13 it's pretty cool.
ashley
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: John O'Janpa
Date: 2001-12-17 06:10
I bought one and found that for me, it played better than any cane reeds I have tried(I've tried many brands and strengths), but it has a sound that is different and not as good. I would not use it to play in a performance, and seldom use it to practice, since that's when I run through my cane reeds to find the good ones.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: bob gardner
Date: 2001-12-17 14:26
i was a big fan and then all three of my reeds died at the same time. I'm no longer a fan.
For the amount of money I had in them I expected them to last longer then they did. (six months)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Sylvain
Date: 2001-12-17 15:04
Hi Carmen,
I have about 3 legere reeds. My experience with them is a positive one. I have them in my case all the time and when I have no time to look for a good reed, (rushed practice, band practice, ...) I use them.
You have to find the right strength for you and your mouthpiece which can be a bit tricky. Also, I found that they work best on somehow open mouthpiece. I had a legere 3 1/2 on my B45 and it worked great. I felt a difference but when recorded could not hear it.
My primary mouthpiece is an M15 and unfortunately legere reeds do work too well with it. I think it might the very long facing of the mouthpiece, but I don't really know.
There are a few important things that you should keep in mind with the Legere.
1- They feel different but after playing them regularly for a week or two you'll feel comfortable with them. Record yourself, do blind test with your friends, to see if they hear a difference.
2- It takes a few minutes for the reed to warm up (literally) so expect a hard feel for the first 5 minutes of play.
3- They tend to get too soft after 1h 1-1/2 of play, let them rest for a few minutes.
4-Their life expectancy has been around 300 hours for me (that's 1hour practice a day for like 10 month)
I have heard that Guy Legere is working on new cuts to accomodate closer facing, but have yet to see them.
Let us know what you think of them,
Good clarineting,
-Sylvain
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Donn
Date: 2001-12-17 15:12
I got lucky on the first one I bought, a No. 3. Works well on a WW K-10M mpc.
Well pleased.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Mario
Date: 2001-12-17 17:56
Sylvain is highlighting very well how to work with Legere. Yes, they need to be carefully chosen (try many). Yes they need warming-up. Yes, they need to be changed after about 1.5 hour of playing. Yes, you need stronger reeds in the summer when it is hot. Yes, they die on you after a few months of playing (they loose their "pop" and become unresponsive. I suspect that the synthetic material simply weakens as a result of typical vibrational fatigue, like all other solid material called to vibrate at high frequency).
I have been using the new cut (Guy calls it "the Quebec Cut"): More heart and thinner tips. Overall, a very solid reed with fabulous response all over the instrument. The improvements are especially noticable at strong chalumeau volume (a weak point of the original cut which seems not to be able to take much pressure). But the thinner tips imply more trials to find good reeds and more sensitivity to heat (that's why I switch every hour).
I am currently down to my last 3 good reeds of this new cut. I am planning a trip to Barry Ontario early next year to replenish my supply (I buy about 10 at the time for about one year of use).
I am a very happy user of Legere reeds.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Josh Schultze
Date: 2001-12-17 19:57
There are some things I like about the Legere reeds and some things I don't.
I don't like the notes E and B, fingers covering the entire tube. On my setup they have and odd buzz that increases as one gets louder. This buzzing drives me crazy because I try all types of things to compensate. On my friend's B45 mouthpiece I don't have the same problem.
However there have been times that none of my reeds sounded good or I had just begun breaking in a new set of reeds and the sound I got from the Legere was better.
I like the way the reed feels more slippery in the mouth. Physically it is more comfortable and has allowed me to play longer.
In my clarinet case I have one 4 Legere reed for "just in case."
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: sarah
Date: 2001-12-17 22:15
Thanks Mark for saying that. Everone prefers different things and to not back up your preference leaves me in a position where I don't know if I should even consider your opinion. So please, Mr. Quixote, please tell us why you think that legere reeds "are total crap".
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Dan
Date: 2001-12-18 00:22
Carmen, when I heard the reed play on the Legere website, I knew I had to try it. The moment I put it on my crystal mpc and blew into my cheap plastic rental clarinet, the purity and quality of the sound convinced me that I really didn't have any desire to go back to cane reeds. I've never experienced warm-up problems and have played this new reed for hours at a stretch and have not experienced any problems what-so-ever. Considering the problems others have experienced, perhaps I was just lucky in getting an exceptional one the very first time. I highly recommend them. I just remembered...I did have problems with the Vandoren M15 mpc and emailed Mr. Legere. He personally responded and explained why it wouldn't work on that particular mpc. (too long of a lay). I feel so strongly about the Legere reed that I would rather find a mpc that fits his reed than buy a particular mpc and then try to find a reed that works well with it. This is probably a backwards approach to things, but it works for me. I hope this helps.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Westy
Date: 2001-12-18 02:46
I've tried one at a strength of about a 3 to a 3.5 on a Greg Smith 1* mouthpiece. My only complaint is that the chalumeau register has a buzzing sound to it. I have also heard that some people buy at least a dozen at a time and return only the ones they didn't like. For players who like to age their reeds or reed blanks for a longer period of time and don't want to spend the time fixing reeds, the Legere Reeds may be the solution.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: donald nicholls
Date: 2001-12-18 09:04
i had great success with one of his prototypes from the 1998 Clarinetfest, but have never managed to have quite as good results since then. Postings above say it all- not so good in the lower register, buzzing sound etc. I'd love to prove the sceptics wrong, but i really do like a good cane reed.
POSITIVE comments, to be fair
- great for teaching (never dries out, always works)
- good for warming up in a hurry, when you have only a short time for practise and don't want to waste time getting a reed going etc.
.... plus (someone is bound to harass me about this one...) i have had some success using it as the "model reed" when refacing mouthpieces. In September 2000 i worked on 3 Zinner mouthpieces using a Legere 3.5 as the tester reed- and finished the mouthpieces so that they worked with this reed. Those three mouthpieces were snatched up pretty quickly, and are used by players that sound pretty great (using cane reeds) and have stuck with the mouthpieces i did for them.
i did have really good results from my original 1998 reed- but i ruined the reed by trying to sand the back of it, this tears strips off- although that reed still plays. I remember Charles Neidich came up behind me when he was coaching a chamber group i was in, and saw (with some suprise) that i was using an artificial reed. He had been listening to us playing and had commented positively on my tone, so the Legere reeds CAN work, if you get a good one.
donald
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: A David Peacham
Date: 2001-12-18 10:40
I should start by saying that I only started playing in April, and tried Legere in about July. So my experience with them may be completely inapplicable to an experienced player.
My first impression of Legere was very positive. It gave me a smoother sound and worked consistently. I found it slightly more tiring to play than cane, and noticeably quieter.
After about ten days playing the Legere, I was having problems with a staccato exercise, so I tried playing it on a cane reed. This seemed to respond a lot better. For a couple of weeks I chopped and changed between the two, but came to prefer cane again. A few months on, I still try the Legere occasionally, but have come to the conclusion that I'm unlikely to go back to it; the sound is just too smooth and characterless and the reed is too exhausting to play. The slippery feel gets on my nerves, too.
Maybe the Legere is too hard for me, but I don't think so. I have quite different problems if I try a cane reed that's harder than I'm used to. Maybe I'm just not warming it up enough. I use a Vandoren 5RV Lyre 13/88; maybe it is too closed for this reed.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Kathy Beatty
Date: 2001-12-18 16:20
In general, I'm a big fan of synthetics - I play a greenline, use synthetic cork, and also have played many kinds of synthetic reeds. So far, my least favorite synthetic reed has been the Legere. It seems very unresponsive, and my sound is "stuffy" on it. By far my favorite synthetic reed is the Harry Hartmann Fiberreed, sold by Woodwind & Brasswind. I often get compliments about how good my sound is when I use it. It is both very consistent and very responsive (is that a contradiction?). The one thing to know, if you're buying one, is that it is about 1/2 grade softer than the equivalent in cane reeds (so buy a hard one if you normally play a medium hard, etc.). I like it better than the Fibracell I tried.
I haven't yet tried any other synthetics, but am very interested in others opinions. One that comes to mind is the Codera Fiberreed. Has anyone tried it?
Kathy
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Andrea
Date: 2001-12-18 17:14
I play alto clarinet and have the best luck with the first synthetic that I bought, a Legere Alto Sax #2 reed. There isn't even a cane reed in my case. I also have a #2 1/2 that seems to be too stiff. My local music store won't order any more, apparently they have a large minimum order. I'm just a little nervous because I need to get another reed into rotation. A mail order is in my very near future.
I experimented with the other brand my store carries, a brand called Bari, I bought two different strengths to try out and they were terrible.... very tinny, awful sound. The player sitting next to me gave me the strangest look when I was checking them out. I put the Legere back in and got the "ahhh, now you sound like a clarinet again" sigh of relief. lol!
I've never tried these on my Bb, but my performance time is primarily alto these days.
Andrea
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: LynnB
Date: 2001-12-18 19:12
I tried a 3 1/2 with my Vandoren M13. I like it in the sense that there is always a reed in my case that will work no matter what the weather changes to. I've had it about 3 months and it hasn't worn out yet. I haven't had the response problem that others have reported but the tone is a bit bright for my taste. -Lynn
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: J. Exner
Date: 2001-12-19 00:07
Same with me--I like the Fibracell better. I've only had one Legere, though, so I might have just been a bit unlucky. It worked for me for about a week, and then it just didn't respond any more. I've been using Fibracell pretty much all the time for about 6 months--Hard--and I have no complaints.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
