TRtrumpet Posted November 8, 2005 Posted November 8, 2005 So whats the best brand of reed to buy? I heard that RICO reeds are realy bad and should not be used... idk tho. I used one the other day and i seemed to work fine for me. I use Vandorean (yea i know i spelled that wrong) size 3 right now. Quote
chickora Posted November 8, 2005 Posted November 8, 2005 Personally, I really don't know much about sax reeds, but I do know it is very crucial to whether you know what the right reed is! I do know buying plastic/or Synthetic reeds for marching season is probaly the best to go. They may cost more money, but much cheaper on the long run. They aren't effected by the weather and don't crack as easily. Don't use these for concert season. RICO, I don't recommend at all. They tend to run softer than Vandoren's, so if you can only afford RICO's I suggest you to go up a size if you are used to Vandoren. They also don't vibrate as good as some reeds. Flavored Reeds, yes, there are flavored reeds. They may seem interesting and fun to suck on, but they do lose their taste and are expensive. They are not very reliable, so if you buy these, I hope you aren't trying to compete for a chair test in them or even performing in them. They don't produce the best sound quality. Any Type of Vandoren, I personally love the V-12, I have failed to use their newest one yet though. They are reliable..and do produce a good sound. ----------------------------------------------------------- Remember though people, by a reed brush..and you may seem embarrased to ask people who work at Brook Mays or Strait Music, but you are allowed to pick out what reeds you want to buy. How to find the best one? Well, I shall tell you what I know. 1)Know what type of tip opening it has; a long facing or a short facing. Long facing= stronger reed Short facing= softer reed (I personally don't know why this is, I just know it.) 2) Know whether if it is a open mouthpiece or closed mouthpeice. Open= Softer reed Closed= stonger reed However, I do know why for this. If it is closed and the reed is strong..It doesn't tend to stick to the mouth peice when it vibrates. It takes a natural vibration, which allows sound to come out. Have you notice if you use soft reeds sometimes sound doesn't come out? Well, now you know. Open mouth peice? Well, softer reeds are more flexible and well, bend to allow vibration to happen. Hard reeds won't bend like this; making it harder to blow and giving a reedy sound. Thus, this is why it is important to know why you have to use a certain size. However, I am assuming you have a well developed ambusure(sp?) too. You have no idea how many people have come up to me and say... "Guess what Megan!!? I am on a 4!!"... I just kind of role my eyes.. because you do realize that the size of the reed shows nothing on how of the playing. ---------- 3) Once you have figured out what size is perfect.. You need to know what the reed should look like. You want it to be a golden brown color with tiny brown specks. This tells you that the size of the reed is the correct size and the cane was cut at the right time. If you see a reed that is covered in brown spots, you might as well be playing on a four. This means that the cane was cut too late. There are cases when a reed has a green tint to it, which you never want to play on.. Who knows what this reed can do?!!! This of course meens, it was cut too early. 4) No you got the color right.. You will want to see if the reed will vibrate correctly. Hold it up to the light. You will see a thin area that kind of looks like a curve. Make sure there are no little strait lines going though that.. You want to see a uniform thing of strait lines. This tells you if the reed will sqeek easily. If there aren't any...Then that reed is good. If there is, there are some cases where it can easily be shaven off with sand paper or even just a simple reed shaver will do. Again, if this makes no sense, I suggest you ask your band director because it seems to make sense to me. 5) Prepare the reed. Make sure you have reed carver/shaver/shaper...or whatever you would like to call it. It usually takes me 2 hours to prepare my reed. Never touch the heart of the reed. That's a no no!! There are areas of a reed that you shave that will give you a darker sound..and areas that will give you a bright sound. I can't techinally show you on the internet. ------- Well, that's all I have to say. Ligatures do make an important role on your sound too, but I won't get into that.. unless you want me to. Wow, that was a lot to say. Quote
themainclarinet Posted November 9, 2005 Posted November 9, 2005 Vandoren has good new reeds that they came out with last year are the Rue Lupics (sp?) find a good place to get them at though bc they can be really expensive (40 dollars a box) And get a size higher than usual bc sometimes can be really soft. They are great! and I have like 3 boxes and most of the reeds are good. I am currently testing different types of reeds and will let you guys know what I have found! Rico= people have different opinions. Most of the reeds are bad, but I have found some decent rico reeds for my sax! So my pennies worth is: try out a few...just because people say the brand is bad...there is sometimes a good reed! Just test it out for yourself!!! Quote
sw33ttapioca Posted November 9, 2005 Posted November 9, 2005 i first saw placsic ones at nats.. but i was wondering how good the sound is compared to vandorens? Quote
TRtrumpet Posted November 9, 2005 Author Posted November 9, 2005 chickora said: There are areas of a reed that you shave that will give you a darker sound..and areas that will give you a bright sound. I can't techinally show you on the internet. ------- Well, that's all I have to say. Ligatures do make an important role on your sound too, but I won't get in to that... unless you want me to.... Realy, thats awesome. Is there any way you could give me an idea of where to shave a reed for the brighter sound? So how do the ligatures play important role in the sound. lol. Quote
chickora Posted November 9, 2005 Posted November 9, 2005 Three valve circus said: Realy, thats awesome. Is there any way you could give me an idea of where to shave a reed for the brighter sound? So how do the ligatures play important role in the sound. lol. Ah, I really can't tell you where to shave, but I do know of it though. However, ligatures.. I don't know much about. But it is very critical on how you place it too.. You want the ligature to right in the middle of the reed. There are some mouthpeices that have two lines that tell you where to put it. You want the end that does not have the screws faced towards your face. This is because the very middle of the ligature was designed to hold the reed exactly in place to where the vibration is perfect. Again, I do believe ligatures do also have an effect on tone too.., I don't know why, but I do remember our master teacher switching ligatures and the tone quality was significally changed. So I suggest you keep trying some until you get the tone quality you like, sorry I dont have a lot info about this, but if you have some info please go right ahead.. Now about the RICO, there are some odd balls out of the boxes, but you want to save you money and get boxes of reeds that come with several good reeds, not just one. Quote
themainclarinet Posted November 10, 2005 Posted November 10, 2005 PLASTIC REEDS ROCK! esp. for marching season, Clarinot got one and it plays great! THey are about 20 dollars but a pretty good investment! Quote
acsc1312 Posted November 10, 2005 Posted November 10, 2005 I use Vandoren 3 1/2 they work great. I use Rico 3 1/2 for my Bari though Quote
TRtrumpet Posted November 11, 2005 Author Posted November 11, 2005 I use size 3. I've been wanting to switch to 3 1/2 but havent got the chance... Quote
themainclarinet Posted November 11, 2005 Posted November 11, 2005 You guys should really give the Rue Lupics a try...they are by Vandoren and they rock! But they can be kinda soft so I usually get a box of 4 and 5 so I can pick my way through. Quote
TRtrumpet Posted November 25, 2005 Author Posted November 25, 2005 Are plastic reeds good to use for marching band. I was thinkin about gettin one for marching season next year if im on the alto. Quote
sax5warrior Posted November 25, 2005 Posted November 25, 2005 Three valve circus said: Are plastic reeds good to use for marching band. I was thinkin about gettin one for marching season next year if im on the alto. noooooooooooooooooooooooooo no no no no, unless you live in New England...plastic reeds, plastic horns, plastic mouthpieces are not good eqiupment and its only recommended to the cold regions because of the climate and how metal works with the cold and bla bla bla, dont you ever ever get a plastic reed, youll stick out horribly and.....my point is, dont get it, get a the regular good ole Vandorans Quote
TRtrumpet Posted November 25, 2005 Author Posted November 25, 2005 lol, thanks for tellin me. Glad I didnt buy one today. Quote
sax5warrior Posted November 25, 2005 Posted November 25, 2005 Three valve circus said: lol, thanks for tellin me. Glad I didnt buy one today. welcome Quote
chickora Posted November 25, 2005 Posted November 25, 2005 Three valve circus said: lol, thanks for tellin me. Glad I didnt buy one today. hmm, I don't really think that so.. I disagree. A plastic reed is perfect for marching conditions..Then again, that's my opinion. I have one and I sound fine. Then again, I play clarinet and its a lot different than the sax. Quote
sax5warrior Posted November 25, 2005 Posted November 25, 2005 chickora said: hmm, I don't really think that so.. I disagree. A plastic reed is perfect for marching conditions..Then again, that's my opinion. I have one and I sound fine. Then again, I play clarinet and its a lot different than the sax. well, unless you march in the New England states then you can use it, plastic reeds, horns, and mouthpieces used to be toys a long time ago, now, everyone is getting fooled by its color and bla bla bla, its really a waste, i dunno, its my opinion, if you want to buy 1, great no harm no foul but beware of its components and uses, also, it wears down quicker Quote
chickora Posted November 25, 2005 Posted November 25, 2005 sax5warrior said: well, unless you march in the New England states then you can use it, plastic reeds, horns, and mouthpieces used to be toys a long time ago, now, everyone is getting fooled by its color and bla bla bla, its really a waste, i dunno, its my opinion, if you want to buy 1, great no harm no foul but beware of its components and uses, also, it wears down quicker Synthetic Reeds... That's what I am talking about. The plastic instruments such as mouth pieces are for people who blow their chops off. You can find further details on that on my xanga. Quote
sax5warrior Posted November 25, 2005 Posted November 25, 2005 chickora said: Synthetic Reeds... That's what I am talking about. The plastic instruments such as mouth pieces are for people who blow their chops off. You can find further details on that on my xanga. i dont see it in your xanga *shrugs*, yea i meant synthetic reeds....dont buy 'em...ill try to find expert info on that Quote
chickora Posted November 25, 2005 Posted November 25, 2005 sax5warrior said: i dont see it in your xanga *shrugs*, yea i meant synthetic reeds....dont buy 'em...ill try to find expert info on that Well, it's like one of the later post.. Quote
sax5warrior Posted November 25, 2005 Posted November 25, 2005 chickora said: Well, it's like one of the later post.. ah ok, i see it now Quote
chickora Posted November 25, 2005 Posted November 25, 2005 sax5warrior said: ah ok, i see it now Yeah, people who don't know what they are is more for people who blow their muscles in their lips, so no longer do they buzz correctly.. in order to really play they have to play on plastic mouthpeices. Bad Tone Quality and terrible range, might as well quit with the instrument if you can't use good mouthpeices. Quote
itsstephenyo Posted November 26, 2005 Posted November 26, 2005 hmm... i've played on quite a few plastic reeds and they've all done perfectly fine for me. my friend james purchased a legere studio cut plastic reed. geez... that thing was amazing! it played exactly, if not better, than the cane reed i was using at that moment... and i thought i had a really good reed. he used that thing during marching season. it still played well even at the end. very reliable reed. and as for ligatures... as a whole they really dont do much except hold ur reed in place. i've seen many amazing sax players play on the regular old things u get out of the box with a new mouthpiece and still sound fine on it. however, i personally play on a bay ligature. it does feel quite a bit different from playing on a typical ligature. i've played on rovners, BG's and the vandoren optimum and this one beats them all out. you should, however, have good control of your tone before you try this ligature. it's also very, very sensitive. when u buy one (they're around 40 dollars) it comes with a warning label telling you not to tighten it too much cuz it would break. but yea, this thing really does wonders. i can definitely feel a difference from playing on the bay as opposed to the other ones. Quote
TRtrumpet Posted December 2, 2005 Author Posted December 2, 2005 My director was tellin me that when in his college the alto's were tired of not bein heard so they all bough plastic reeds and blew every one else out of the water. Basicly he said there loud but not the best sounding. I think there fine for marching. Quote
EODrillDesigner98 Posted December 3, 2005 Posted December 3, 2005 As a Woodwind Specialist/Instructor! I highly recommand all of my students to purchase Vandoren Reeds Quote
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