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Vandoren V12 reeds, why don't they work anymore??

Author: frustrated clarinetist
Date: 2002-02-02 07:11

A few months ago in my clarinet lesson with my teacher she came up to me and asked me if my reeds seemed different. I hadn't noticed anything different about mine so i said no. She then came up and showed me a reed from a box that she had recently just purchased compared to reeds i had. The difference was that the newer manufactured V12 reeds have a flat tip with barely any cane at the tip of the reed.

The effects of this are that the reeds start of being too hard then get extreamly soft and become a piece of garbage. I didn't start to feel the effects of it until about two months ago when my last box of reeds (i purchase in great quanities) ended and it was time for me to get new reeds. They were just plain aweful. I used to complain because not all the reeds were consistent but now NONE were any good.

X person from a well known music company told me that Vandoren is experimenting with their reeds to try to make them better. But it is making them so much worse and they can't seem to get that they are destroying their reeds. No as for people in my area, everyone has scambled to find something else that will work jsut as well as the old V12's. I have heard people trying reeds like grand concert evolution, steuer, zonda all for the most part with the exception of grand concerts not getting close to the v12 feelings. I have also heard a lot of people going back to the blue box because those haven't been affected.

As for me, I'm so frustrated as a clarinetist. It's my life, its what i love to do. I have a saying, my mood is only is as good as my reeds work that day. Well my my reeds stink and its kind of getting depressed. No matter what i do, i can't get a good sound or good/decent articulation. So im sopposed to practice for hours a day and put with that and feel awful after everytime i play? Has anyone else had the same expierence? Im interested in what others have done to cope and or how to get a message back to vandoren to go back the old way. and just to save some people the time. Clipping the reeds doesn't work, balancing them doesn't work and preparing them before playing doesn't work. thanks

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