- Joined
- Dec 26, 2007
(As I threatened, in another thread.)
FWIW, to me, reeds are reeds. My favorite, because they are the most consistent, are Vandoren. However, I heard that the patent for mass-producing reeds is held by Rico and everyone uses that patent .
Also, as full disclosure dictates, the reeds I used when I was playing bari professionally and semi-professionally are no longer manufactured: Vandoren Modele Jazz. My order of preference, when I ran out of those, was regular Vandoren, LaVoz, Rico Royal and then regular Rico. Again, the only reason why I preferred Vandoren over all these is because they were consistent: consistent thickness, consistent cane, consistent quality. Why the Vandoren Model Jazz reeds were my favorite was because they had the consistency and were a good 3/4 LONGER than any other reeds, and those fit my very long, fat Sigurd Rascher mouthpiece just great.
For most beginners, an instructor will tell you to get a 2.5 or medium soft strength reed (reeds are graded from 1 to 5 or from very soft to very hard). Depending on the person and the mouthpiece, he might say to buy a harder or softer reed.
* Further, you should have a reed that is not chipped, split or warped and is positioned correctly on your mouthpiece. *
As a suggestion for the beginner, you shouldn't buy too many reeds: a box of five should be fine. After a couple lessons, you may find out that you need a different strength and reeds aren't that cheap anymore (about $2+ each). For that same reason, I don't recommend that you buy a synthetic reed, starting out. Stick with wood; leave the plastic, plasticover, etc. for when your embochure is consistent (some synthetic reeds are fairly decent. I used the Rico Plasticover for awhile).
FWIW, to me, reeds are reeds. My favorite, because they are the most consistent, are Vandoren. However, I heard that the patent for mass-producing reeds is held by Rico and everyone uses that patent .
Also, as full disclosure dictates, the reeds I used when I was playing bari professionally and semi-professionally are no longer manufactured: Vandoren Modele Jazz. My order of preference, when I ran out of those, was regular Vandoren, LaVoz, Rico Royal and then regular Rico. Again, the only reason why I preferred Vandoren over all these is because they were consistent: consistent thickness, consistent cane, consistent quality. Why the Vandoren Model Jazz reeds were my favorite was because they had the consistency and were a good 3/4 LONGER than any other reeds, and those fit my very long, fat Sigurd Rascher mouthpiece just great.
For most beginners, an instructor will tell you to get a 2.5 or medium soft strength reed (reeds are graded from 1 to 5 or from very soft to very hard). Depending on the person and the mouthpiece, he might say to buy a harder or softer reed.
* Further, you should have a reed that is not chipped, split or warped and is positioned correctly on your mouthpiece. *
As a suggestion for the beginner, you shouldn't buy too many reeds: a box of five should be fine. After a couple lessons, you may find out that you need a different strength and reeds aren't that cheap anymore (about $2+ each). For that same reason, I don't recommend that you buy a synthetic reed, starting out. Stick with wood; leave the plastic, plasticover, etc. for when your embochure is consistent (some synthetic reeds are fairly decent. I used the Rico Plasticover for awhile).