 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: TDC
Date: 2002-09-12 21:38
The only comments I've ever seen on V. Olivieri reeds have been negative, but I can't figure why. I like and play them. Olivieri does something they call "resin tempering". The reeds have a wonderful round tone, never hissy, and last a helluva long time. They are nice and thick, and take scraping well. If you hold one up to light and compare it to other brands, the grain is nice and straight and the tubules are evenly distributed across the tip. What's the beef?
TDC
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Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2002-09-13 02:41
The resin "tempering" has been brought up before but I would appreciate a better explanation of the process and the materials involved if anyone knows. I am experimenting with reed treatments and any information - I've done searches on the BB and gotten some good stuff to try - would be appreciated. Thanks.
The Doctor
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Author: GBK
Date: 2002-09-13 04:52
I have yet to try to newest (post Phil Muncy) version of the Olivieris. Hopefully they will be an improvement from the reeds that were marketed for the past 20 years.
In the 70's and early 80's Olivieris were one of the more popular brands, and were played (and endorsed) by many players. The tempered and untempered versions both had their devotees, even though many now suspect that there was no difference between the two types.
Suddenly, in the early 80's the reeds took a nose dive. Miscuts were rampant, cane quality was very suspect, and the packaging was horrendous. In short, they became a mere shadow of themselves, and players abandoned them in droves. The reeds had a tendency to squeak due to the thin tip, and their useful life (of the few good ones) was quite short.
Dave Spiegelthal wrote some positive comments about his most recent try with Olivieris. I am very interested in hearing more reviews of these newer Olivieris to see if the improvement is of a permanent nature...GBK
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Author: Synonymous Botch
Date: 2002-09-13 13:08
Tried same, #3 on a medium facing mouthpiece.
5 in the box, 5 winners.
Try doing that with V12s!
Success couldn't come to nicer people than Phil and Jan.
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Author: Hiroshi
Date: 2002-09-14 18:21
I played Olivieri reeds in 1976-1977. Then they were fabulous. I could understand its marvelous quality not only from its cane appearances but when I saw it through light.There was no thick dark timber scatteing. It was better than Vandoren hand selected, which was itself better than now. In fact since then I never found such beautiful reeds. But after that I found their quality decayed very fast and almost all Japanese shops stopped to sell them.
About five years ago, I bought several boxes from US and found they are totally different Olivieri. In fact I found they are not well dried. They use Olive oil for their tempering. That's where its name comes from. And provably they need much dry up period after tempering. It may be neglected. I was very much dissapointed again.
Later I found those change came from change of ownership.
I read somewhere Steve Cohen uses Olivieri. I wonder which Olivieri he uses. 25 year-old stock or new ones?
p.s.
I have a fabulous Conoron coated lure rod #S-2700 made by Garcia U.S.. They went broke very long ago. Almost all manufacturers who make their products without considering costs seem to go broke without exceptions.
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Author: Just me
Date: 2002-09-15 02:03
It is said that Pyne designed his orignal mouthpieces to be played on Olivieri's. I used to use them back in the"good old day" They don't play anything like they used to because he changed his cut when he moved to the USA from Spain. I suspect he also changed his cane sourse. Bottom line, if they work for you they are good, if they don't they are not. Someone else must like them otherwise he'd be pencils instead of reeds. Just me
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Author: Larry Liberson
Date: 2002-09-16 20:51
"About five years ago, I bought several boxes from US and found they are totally different Olivieri. In fact I found they are not well dried. They use Olive oil for their tempering. That's where its name comes from."
Huh?
I wouldn't want to speculate as to the origins of the name, but Olivieri was the name of the man who founded and ran the company -- Victor Olivieri. Better save the olive oil for salads.....
"I used to use them back in the"good old day" They don't play anything like they used to because he changed his cut when he moved to the USA from Spain. I suspect he also changed his cane sourse."
Yes and no. Actually, when Vic passed away (in 1982, I believe) the company was taken over by his sons, neither who were brought up in the trade (one was a baker!) and knew little (if anything!) about reedmaking. A few years later the company was moved from Mallorca to Arizona.
Vic reputedly had a wonderful eye for cane. He had several local women make the reeds in his "plant," but he personally checked the machines daily to insure "quality control." Sadly, when he died, there was nobody to take his place.
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Author: denner22
Date: 2002-09-28 07:32
I used to use Olivieri reeds exclusively. They were the "Rolls Royce" of clarinet reeds in the 1970 - 80 period IMHO. However the packaging was awful and the reeds changed drastically towrds the end of the 80s, so I stopped using them then. The nearest thing I can find now are The Australian Vintage XL reeds. A good one of these ranks with any Olivieri..(and far ahead of any Van Doren) that I have tried...
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Author: Mike_M
Date: 2002-10-23 18:37
I know this post is almost a month old now, but just for the record…
I saw Steve Cohen at a master class last year. He was playing Legere synthetic reeds. I don’t think that he was officially indorsing them. He had been playing on them for quite some time, because he said that he had a few of them lasted almost 1 year.
He also commented that Legere reeds practically “changed his life”. He’s very busy with orchestra administration, family, etc. and now he has more free time because he doesn’t spend hours every week fiddling with reeds.
What a fantastic sound he has! And a heck of a nice guy. (Personally the Legere didn’t work too well for me).
I agree with TDC… the Oliveri last a long time and are really responsive. It looks like the Muncy’s have done a fine job with them.
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