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bass clarinet reeds

Author: Ebclarinet1
Date: 2015-11-13 20:00

I have been using the V12 VanDoren bass reeds lately and am a little happier with them than the traditional blue box VanDorens and the Gonzalez bass reeds that were my previous go-to reed choices.

However, none of these are terribly consistent and generally only 2 out of 5 are ones you'd want to play in public.

Have any of you found a tenor sax reed that gives a good bass sound and/ or more consistent performance from a box?? What is your preference of the existing bass reeds?

Eefer guy

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Re: bass clarinet reeds

Author: Chetclarinet
Date: 2015-11-13 21:00

I use regular Vandoren 3/12 bass clarinet reeds and live with the fact that I usually can only use two out of five in public. The V 12 reeds have too much reed noise in soft dynamics for me. I have the same issue with other available brands.

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Re: bass clarinet reeds

Author: Zenia
Date: 2015-11-13 23:44

I've been using V12s, Rico Reserve Classics and Legere Classic reeds now for a number of years. I experimented with tenor sax reeds but they always sounded overly bright and kinda honky for my taste. I play with a very good bass clarinetist who only uses tenors and she sounds great but......bright and honky.

Examining a bass and tenor reed by untrained eye there also seems to be a different profile, with the bass reed appearing to be a thicker cut throughout.

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Re: bass clarinet reeds

Author: ebonite
Date: 2015-11-14 00:30

I really like Vandoren V16 tenor sax reeds on bass clarinet, strength 3.5. They have very good response and dynamic range, and you can get a lot of different types of sound out of them, at least with my (refaced) Selmer D mouthpiece. Plenty of projection for orchestral playing. I have lost count of all the other reeds I have tried, but I always end up going back to the V16.

However, I have to admit that you still only get 2 good ones out of a box of 5.

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Re: bass clarinet reeds

Author: Hank Lehrer
Date: 2015-11-14 02:38

Eefer Guy,

Here is a thread I started several months ago that centers on waterlogged reeds but mentions some of the reed changes I have used on bass.

http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/read.html?f=1&i=421746&t=421746

My final setup was to continue with the Roger Garret MP and Legere' reeds for rehearsals. For concerts, I always preferred using a somewhat thinned-down La Voz bass clarinet or even a tenor sax reed.

BTW, I am really a tenor sax player and use those reeds as well as BC reeds interchangeably. I've got a lot of them still new in the boxes. However, I've stopped using Rico Royals but still throw on a brown box Rico from time to time for grins.

HRL

PS On Bb soprano clarinet, I have begun to use Legere' reeds with a Borbeck 16 (really open) MP and am very happy.

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Re: bass clarinet reeds

Author: Ebclarinet1
Date: 2015-11-15 00:24

Thanks for your posts. I might order a box of the tenor sax reeds just to give them a whirl. I use Java alto sax reeds on my alto clarinet and like that sound a lot. It gives the alto a little more projection s that solo passages come out better. I don't like BRIGHT on bass though it might be useful in some settings, like a pit orchestra.

While I'm at it, I was wondering if any of you have tried bari sax reeds on the contra-alto. The contra-alto reeds are really a problem as there are few choices of both brand and strength. Many warp like a bear too!

Eefer guy

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