Author: Dutchy
Date: 2009-02-23 04:00
I'll let someone who's more knowledgeable about it go into the technical details of the differences between reed scrapes, but all you need to know is that you probably want to avoid anything billed as "French" or "German" (this includes the Chartier "traditional" reeds on WWBW.) You want to look for anything billed as "American scrape" because that is, most likely, what you're used to, if what you were playing on previously was Lesher reeds.
Bunch of stuff before we get started on this sort of thing:
1. Bear in mind that none of these are going to be cheap; good-quality handmade reeds are just going to cost between $12 and $20 a pop, not including shipping, and there's nothing you can do about it. Your parental unit will just have to bite the bullet and get used to the idea. ![[grin]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie5.gif)
BTW, at one point when I was getting started 4 years ago, Gower reeds were the perfect reed for me, but at the time they were only $12, so they've gone up quite a bit. And no, IMO the Gower is not worth the $20 (plus $5 shipping, remember). They are what I would call "adequate" reeds, but they are still factory, mass-produced reeds, and for the same $25 you can get a really good handmade reed.
2. These sorts of lists are terribly, terribly subjective. Since everybody's embouchure, experience, talents, and expectations are different, and since the reeds themselves can vary, even reeds by the same reedmaker in the same batch, any kind of "these reeds are great!" recommendation has to be taken with a grain of salt.
3. Your embouchure changes over time, and reeds that work well for you at this stage of your development may not work for you at the next stage of your development. And vice versa...
4. ...reeds that you order, that don't work for you when you receive them, much to your disappointment, may work for you in 6 months. Put them away carefully, and get them out again in 6 months and try them again. And thus, I would not give up on those Lesher reeds; put them away, and get them out again next fall. IMPORTANT: do not tinker with them, with a reed knife or an Exacto knife or whatever, hoping to improve them. Trust me, it's not the reed, it's your embouchure. I have ruined more what were in retrospect perfectly good reeds through ill-advised tinkering because I blamed the reed, not the embouchure. If you order a reed from a well-recommended, established reedmaker, and it doesn't work for you, don't blame the reed, blame your embouchure. And put the reed away for 6 months, and come back to it later.
A large part of the challenge of finding a personal reedmaker is finding someone whose reeds that they make to make themselves happy also make you happy.
That said...My personal list of reeds that I use, and have used, and that work(ed) well for me. Which means, remember, that these are people whose reeds that work well for them, also work well for me. There are other really good reedmakers out there, and I have tried their reeds, and they don't work well for me, but it's important to remember that that's not because there's something wrong with the reeds--it's just that their reeds don't happen to work well for me and my embouchure. It's a bit like going down to the Salvation Army and trying on pairs of used shoes; the trick is to find a pair that's broken in that feels comfortable on *your* feet.
Fox.
Goodtoneguild (she has an excellent "Rookie" reed for beginners, too)
Tabbytoes.
Cooper Wright (of this board)
Dunkel.
Reedery.
Evans.
Edmund Nielsen (very fast shipping and a wide variety of reeds to suit every need--their Black and Red beginner reeds are good if you're on a tight budget).
Singing Dog.
These reeds all vary widely from each other: a Singing Dog reed is distinctively different from a Goodtoneguild reed, which is startlingly different from a CJ Wright reed, which is completely unlike a Tabbytoes reed. Et cetera.
So, when you're starting out, you need to order one, or at the most two, reeds from each reedmaker, in order to figure out which ones are "your" sound. Some are bright ("shrill"), some are dark (more clarinet-like), and they will all sound different. They will all sound like oboes, but they will be extremely different from each other. So you're in for a period of experimentation.
If you absolutely have to let your pocketbook be your guide, and you need reeds right away, then I would definitely go with the Fox reeds from WWBW. The Standard reeds are a dollar cheaper, and for your purposes work just as well. The Artist reeds are a bit more refined.
If WWBW is sold out of the Fox (which happens), the Selmer brand reed is "adequate", meaning it plays in tune and doesn't sound too harsh.
You can check out reedreviews but again, remember to take the "love this!"/"hate this!" reviews with a grain of salt. It's mainly useful to look for a consensus--if a lot of people all say "love this!" or "hate this!" about a particular reedmaker, then you know where you stand.
ETA: My advice on not tinkering with a reed is directed towards someone, i.e. you who admits he knows nothing about adjusting reeds, and was not intended to mean a teacher or professional who may know how to adjust a reed.
ETA: Then there's the thorny issue of strength. One reedmaker's "Medium" may be another reedmaker's "Medium Soft", and the only way to find out is to order one and try it. All my ill-advised tinkering and ruination of reeds was done on reeds that in retrospect were simply too hard for me. A reed that is too hard, you will not be able to lip up to pitch, it will be hard to blow, and it will strike you overall as flat and stuffy. So if you receive a reed from a reputable, established reedmaker that is disappointingly flat and stuffy--it's not a dud reed, it's just too hard for you. Order a degree softer next time. And put the flat, stuffy one away, because chances are good that in a year it'll be fine.
Post Edited (2009-02-23 04:14)
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