 The Oboe BBoard
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2025-07-31 23:47
I managed to get hold of a Legere cor reed (medium strength) as they're hard to come by and I'm more than impressed with it - strength is just right for me, response over the range is impeccable, tone is what you want to make it and the dodgy upper Bb I was having with my cane reeds has gone.
Tuning tends to want to be on the flat side, but that can be brought up to pitch with the same embouchure adjustments you'd have to do with synthetics which should become second nature once accustomed to them and using a shorter crook can help too.
The fit on all my crooks is loose, but I've got around that by slipping a short piece of thinwall heat shrink teflon tubing over the end which has conformed to the taper and holds the reed secure with no leaks.
Yes they cost £150 or thereabouts, but weigh that cost up over the cost of how many cane reeds you'd use over the same duration and it all balances out.
I even tried it on d'amore and that also works, but takes a bit more lipping up to get up to pitch, so maybe it's a case of shortening the staple end (which is a metal collar around the outside) by maybe 3mm at the most to get a viable d'amore reed and perhaps something Legere already have in development.
Now I've got Legeres across the board on all the instruments I play besides oboe d'amore (and contrabassoon - perhaps that's also in development), but that's doable with cor reeds and and a bit of teflon tubing. This cor reed will make pit band and orchestral doubling or anywhere else where you need to play a cor solo with no warm-up time an absolute doddle.
To summarise it - it's a belter! Well done Legere - it's been well worth the ten year wait.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
Independent Woodwind Repairer
Single and Double Reed Specialist
Oboes, Clarinets and Saxes
NOT A MEMBER OF N.A.M.I.R.
The opinions I express are my own.
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Legere Cor Reed! new |
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Chris P |
2025-07-31 23:47 |
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oboist2 |
2025-08-02 00:04 |
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The Clarinet Pages
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