The Player's Lounge / Reeds / WIND TALK - For Clarinet & Sax Players

Bad reeds.

juju159 — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 23:21:02 GMT

About 4 out of 10 reeds choke after playing a few tunes. The store I buy from says it's been getting complaints from other sax players. Has anyone else had this problem.
Thanks

Does anyone here play Vandoren reeds?

katieclarinet — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 00:02:50 GMT

If so, what's your preference, and why?

I've been in a constantly changing state of reed preference for the past few months. Mitchell Lurie always was my favorite, because I found that with my mouthpiece (which is very open) it produced the clearest tone. However, I've recently learned and decided that there's more to tone than clarity (and Mitchell Lurie usually lasted only 1 day, and I was using a strength of 4.5.) My instructor recommended that I switch to Vandoren V12s, and I did. At first, the transition was awful, but now I love them so much better! I now play a V12 four, but occasionally I get fuzzy reeds that are an absolute pain to break in, and I've found articulation to be a bit more difficult.

I'd like to know what kinds of reeds work for other people, because maybe there is something else that I should try also.

Vandoren reeds

SPG-clarinet — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 16:20:20 GMT

I usually use Rico reeds on my clarinet but when I bought some the other day they didn't have any so I bought Vandoren. I use a 3 1/2 in Rico so I bought 3 1/2 in Vandoren too. It was harder for me to play even after soaking it for two hours. I looked on Vandoren's website and found out the reeds the man at the music store gave me (they're in a black box with a yellow and purple stripe) are for German and Austrian mouthpieces. Could that also be effecting my playing? Is there really a big difference in German reeds and other reeds for clarinets?

Reed (filed and unfiled?)

musicrahl — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 16:39:32 GMT

What is the difference between Filed and Unfiled Reeds....specifically for clarinet? What does that mean?

Thanks! :)

types of reeds

Kay — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 10:17:40 GMT

Hi, my son and I have been playing the alto sax for a couple of years now. He is in the school band of course. He loves it. The problem is his band teacher is demanding he use another name brand reed that is 2.00 more and he has tried these reeds and does not like how he sounds or how much harder he has to blow. The band teacher claims that judges at regional competitions will know he is not using this brand. He now is using rico 2 I wonder if he can use a different size rico and if it can produce a "richer tone" the band teacher is saying he needs. We love the dependability and durability of the rico and want to stay with it. Any advice on this from someone would be great. The band teacher only sells this one brand in the room for 4.00 a reed. Concerts and marches are his main events. Thanks, Kay

Mitchell Lurie French Cut

dsb — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 22:47:36 GMT

I've played Mitchell Lurie #3's for a long time. I live by the Musician's Friend warehouse in Kansas City, so I stopped by to pick up a box and they were out - again! Anyway, I needed some reeds and decided to get a box of Mitchell Lurie French Cut reeds. I thought these were "premium" reeds, however, they were all cut off center. Are these reeds inspected? Did I just get a bad batch? How do I get them replaced?

What type of reed?

drm180 — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 23:26:02 GMT

What type pf reed would i need for my type of playing. I now have a Conn 14M alto but hsould soon have my new Yamaha YAS-62II in silver. I have a concert in March in which there are a good bit of sax features. Yakety Sax, In The Mood, I have the solo, Tuxedo Junction, and so on. Right now I am using regular Ricos but was thinking about Plasticover. I use strength 3 by the way. If someone could help me get that smooth tone or whatever you think for these songs, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Sopprano Sax Reed Question

fillyv — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 16:48:28 GMT

Hi I just bought a Jody Jazz HR* 6 mouth piece. This would be my first higher end mouth piece. I havnt recieved it yet, but i hear you may have to change reeds. I have been using a Lavoz Medium before, but Ive been thinking about trying something a tad harder. When I was younger i remember I had some troubles with some Reeds with the sopprano. Some sound great some not so great. Then there was some that I could get the the full note range and some I couldnt. I doubt it will be as much as a problem now, but I remember it being kind of a touchy thing. Would it be a good Idea to try maybe a Med/Hard LaVoz or try another veriaty. Any help would be great. Thanks

Rico Reserve vs Mitchell Lurie

dsb — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 22:58:26 GMT

Has anyone made the switch from ML to RR? What was your experience?

Thanks

Jazz selects and intonation

sconsevage — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 17:42:33 GMT

Hey, I'm an alto player, primarily a jazz player. I hate reeds, they drive me crazy ><

Generally I play on a Selmer series III alto and use a Meyer 5 mouthpiece. Generally I have been using V16's Grade 3 and occasionally a Vandoren Java grade 3 (I tend to only find 1 maybe 2 of these reeds in a box of 10 that I find give a good sound and acceptable playing comfort). As I was experimenting with brands of reeds (never satisfied), i stumbled across the Rico Jazz selects. These reeds were interesting. I tried both the 3s unfiled and the 3m unfiled. The sound coming from them was great, the comfort and ease of play was spectacular, but the intonation!!!!!!. Compared to any other make I have tried, specifically Vandorens (ZZs, Javas, V16s, Blue box) these reeds threw the instrument incredibly out of tune.

My question is, is this a standard flaw in these reeds? Do you have any recommendations for strength and filed/unfiled within the jazz select make that will give me the same tone and comfort but better resolve the intonation? Any recommendations for other reed makes (rico or otherwise) that will give me the great tone and comfort of the unfiled jazz selects but that will clean up the intonation?

Plasticover Reed Suggestion

FredB — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 11:46:51 GMT

I am recently using Rico Plasticover reeds on my clarinet. The sound is a little harsh but bright and useful in many venues. However, the black coating color make it almost impossible to carefully adjust the reed on a typical black clarinet mouthpiece except in quite bright light - which is often scare on gigs.

Is it possible that you could coat these reeds in a contrasting color - white, grey, etc. to make adjustment easier?

cuting reed ?

depthtune — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 07:28:34 GMT

Is it possible to cut the reed if this one is too soft ? And how much is to cut when needs a 3 in case of an 2.5 ? Thanks

What is the Current GCS Evolution Packaging?

Clariphant — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 21:26:50 GMT

Of the last few batches of reeds I've ordered, I've received a mixture of boxes with a shiny golden area at the top and on the logo and others with a matte bronze-ish color instead. Which of these is the current packaging? I've noticed that I tend to prefer the ones in the shiny box, though it might just be a coincidence. Thanks!

reeds

webfted — Sat, 21 May 2005 20:14:35 GMT

I just bought some of the plasticover reeds, they work great! I lide thick blank reeds, and was wondering what the difference in sound is between the two. And a suggestion is that ya'll start making plasticover in thick blanks as well as traditional cut.

One more question is, do ya'll have samples of your different reeds avalable? I am asking for just one or two of each "brand" to try.(I am willing to pay.)

Miles

Reed Cane

Riff251 — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 07:13:24 GMT

I've often wondered; "Where is your cane grown?"

It is often said that the Var region of France is the best climate for growing reed cane, but in recent years we've seen reed companies from Australia and New Zealand produce some good quality cane. I've long been a user of Rico Royal reeds and though I've tried other brands I keep coming back to the Royals.

As an aside, I've never warmed up to LaVoz reeds because I find their taste objectionalble. Are they made from a different cane than other Rico brands? Why should they taste different?

Cutting gone crazy on RJS?

xMarth — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 23:55:09 GMT

It seems like the last few boxes of RJS Unfiled that I get the bark sometimes extends like 1/2 or 3/4ths down the side rails of the reed which I don't think is too good...though the box I got a several months ago each was cut fine and all played great. Is it just me or what?

Rico Reserve Alto Sax Reeds

ftttf007 — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 15:22:49 GMT

I recently switched from Vandoren Traditional reeds to Rico Reserve reeds for legit alto saxophone. The Rico reeds offer greater color and greater resonance. The Vandoren reeds can be pushed harder in achieving [i]ff and fff[/i]; however, the Rico Reserve reeds enhance my tone and more easily play [i]pp and ppp[/i]. As a result, I find the Rico Reserve reeds more conducive to classical saxophone repertoire.

Rico owns Giant Reed plantations in both Argentina and France. Where is the [i]arundo donax[/i] for Reserve reeds grown?

Does Rico import [i]arundo donax[/i] from plantations outside of Argentina and France?

Does Rico operate any Giant Reed plantations within the United States?

Does Rico offer tours of its US and international facilities?

Ben

Reeds

clarinetdaddy — Wed, 12 Jan 2005 19:30:25 GMT

I am using reed strength 2.5 or 3 for Bb clarinet. Which new Grand Concert reed strength would work best.

switching reeds

ant601 — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 14:50:09 GMT

While using vandoren zz's, I came across a problem. I started with 2 1/2's which were good until i realized that they were not projecting my sound enough, they were too soft. I went up to a 3, which really did the trick volume wise, but its too hard. So, if I was to switch to select jazz, what strength would be between a size 2 1/2 and 3 vandoren zz?

jazz select

ant601 — Sat, 09 Dec 2006 22:59:58 GMT

I am currently using vandoren zz's on my bari sax. I use strength 3 on those, and i wanted to know if I was to switch to jazz select reeds, what strength would be best. I am going to stick with the unfiled setup, but if it makes a difference, I use a 100/0 M Berg Larsen rubber Bari Sax mouthpiece on a brand new yanagisawa sax.

English horn reeds

Kohlki — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 17:21:01 GMT

Salutations, peoples.

I'm trying to teach myself how to play the English horn, and I have no reeds. I was wondering who you people think are pretty decent English horn reed makers. (I'm only teaching myself because my band director is a trumpet-player, and doesn't know much about English horns and my French horn. @___@ )

Im surprised

ant601 — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 15:41:48 GMT

I recently bought your bari sax Frederick L. Hemke reeds, 2 1/2 strength. I wanted to experiment wit different reeds to see which ones fit me the best, so i decided to try them. When i played them, all I got out of them was a loud mix between a screech and squeal. Everytime i tried to play, thats all I got. I tried wetting them more, i tried clipping to see if they were too soft, i flattened them to on a flat surface to see if they were warped. I tried all that I knew and what my teacher told me to do, and all 5 of them still just would not play. I got the same results out of all of them. I don't know what else to do.

Help

ant601 — Thu, 06 Apr 2006 19:42:30 GMT

While using the lavoz reeds, I notice that I outblow the med soft, but don't blow hard enough for the mediums. Any suggestions?

Filed or Unfiled for a round chamber ?

Saxaholic — Sun, 25 Jun 2006 18:41:21 GMT

Hi !

Concerning Rico Select Jazz ... for a round chamber mpc such a Vandoren V5 A28, is the filed cut is better over the unfiled cut ?

thanks

New Rico Royal reeds

michsax99 — Fri, 09 Sep 2005 12:22:30 GMT

I've been using Rico Royal reeds on my tenor setup for the last 10 years and they've been as consistent as the morning paper, but all of a sudden they sold me a box of the newly packaged Rico Royals without the stickers on them and not one of them in the box played well for me. I compared them to the old ones and they are a slightly different shape or size as well. Where can I get the old style that I'm used to the sound and feel of!

Rico Jazz Select

ant601 — Thu, 06 Apr 2006 19:33:12 GMT

Hi

I was wondering if a filed or unfiled rico jazz select reed would be best. I play bari sax, I use a Berg Larsen 100/0M mouthpiece on an older yamaha ybs62. Thanks.

Oboe reeds

optout — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 13:17:57 GMT

Does anyone know how to sanitize an oboe reed...

I am interested in purchasing a case of Rico Royal #2 Tenor Reeds.

saxman150 — Tue, 07 Mar 2006 20:58:24 GMT

I am a professional Sax player. I am interested in purchasing a case of Rico Royal Tenor sax reeds. I need to find out where I can get a decent discount off individual boxes.

I see about 19.00 per box or 10

Please email me at saxman@joeyarminio.com with info.

I am also interested in purchasing one of the Selmer Reference Tenors I want to buy it used. Check out my website. www.joeyarminio.com

How can i find the best reed for me?

jazzerboy — Tue, 07 Mar 2006 17:12:53 GMT

Hi Rico Administrator,

I am living in Turkey and i can't find the information of sax easily.Can you help me?Which reed is the best for me? HEMKE,LA VOZ OR SPECIAL FILLED JAZZ. I want to special tone on soprano sax like Dave Liebman,Wayne Shorter but i want to play pop-jazz(like saxophonist in the Englishman in New York song-STING) I have yanagisawa S-981 soprano sax.I am using V5 vandoren moutpiece.Which one is good for me? I have selmer reference 54 tenor sax otto link metal mouthpiece number 7 which reed is good for me in tenor sax? I have amati super classic alto sax and special mouthpiece from germany and i want to dave koz sound.Which one is good to me? Thanks for all your help.

how to have Soft & Warm tone ?

yenspapa — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 21:58:20 GMT

What kind of RICO ROYAL mouthpiece and reeds should i use with Red-copper Alto Saxophone to make Soft & Warm tone? B3 mouthpiece + 2 1/2 reed? Thanks?

What Kind of Reed Is This?

swimdot — Tue, 07 Feb 2006 21:42:01 GMT

We recently purchased a tenor saxophone for my son. Included with the saxophone was a Rico reed. He loved the reed. He uses Rico and Rico Royal reeds on a consistent basis but just fell in love with this reed. We know it is not like his other Rico reeds. We do not know what it is so we are hoping someone can tell us. On the back it has a treble clef sign and has RICO across a staff. Underneath the staff it is printed V-2 1/2. If figure that the 2 1/2 is the reed strength but what is the V and what reed is this? I would like to order some.

Old GC Select Thick Blank reeds vs new - the old work better for me!

wcarey — Wed, 07 Dec 2005 13:31:23 GMT

I'm wondering if I'm the only person who finds that the older Grand Concert Thick Blank reeds (in the packaging with the cardboard holders) work much better than the newer ones? After two boxes so far of the new ones I find that the old design is more responsive, freer-blowing, with a better and thicker tone. Everything about them seems better! But unfortunately I have now bought out the rest of the stock of older reeds from my source and I now have to decide to either find a way to adapt to the new reeds or to explore other options.

I've been told that the cut was "drastically changed" last October, and I suspect that this may be the source of my problem (I understand too that alot of people are very happy with the new design). I also have thought of these possibilities:

1 - The reed strength has changed slightly, so that they are now a bit too hard (in general) than my mouthpiece likes. Some evidence of this: usually 1-2 reeds in the boxes of new reeds work well for me, similar to how they worked before. Maybe these are the "softer" ones? I use 4's and have found the new 3.5's to be too soft for my needs. I think 4's are probably at the "maximum" hardness for my mouthpiece. Too bad Rico no longer makes the 3.75's!

2 - The design and/or the cane qualities may require a different "break-in" process than I've been using.

Any thoughts or ideas? Anyone else experienced this problem?

William

Differences between La Voz and Rico reeds

Miguel — Sun, 10 Jul 2005 15:41:32 GMT

Hello,what differences there is in the cut and sound between La Voz reeds and Rico Select Jazz? Why most of the artists(saxophonists) they prefer LA Voz reeds? Thanks

reed strength..

freakazo1d — Thu, 26 May 2005 13:22:44 GMT

which do you think would suit me best??...
i need a reed slightly softer than rico 2.5 for my beechler 7..
a LaVoz Med soft or a Rico Jazz Select 2M..?? or maybe anything else??

RICO [RED/ORANGE box] REEDS for Contra Alto/Contra Bass Clarinet/Bass Sax

Christoph B.M. — Tue, 29 Nov 2005 03:53:47 GMT

Good Morning Dear Rico Reeders,

do anybody knows whre i can buy RICO [RED/ORANGE box] REEDS for Contra Alto/Contra Bass Clarinet/Bass Sax in Germany/Europe?

I´m playing Basssax and since November 2005 there is no known dealer here who can offer thiese superb reeds - and i love them, although because they were really cheap!

Have a nice day/night,

Cheers, Christoph B.M.

Right Reed for Me

Jmanatl1 — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 20:12:36 GMT

I've been using size 3 Rico Royal Reeds and they have been working pretty well. I'm using a Jupiter Artist Series Saxophone with a Selmer C* mouthpiece. Is there any other reed that would work better with my instrument?

Jason

reed help

redefinition08 — Wed, 26 Oct 2005 17:29:04 GMT

I play alto sax and am currently using Vandoren Java #3 but would like to try out Rico Jazz Selects. What would be a comparable strength? Also, I have a Meyer 6M - would filed or unfiled be best and why? Thanks.

La Voz vs Hemke

MHoribe — Sun, 18 Sep 2005 20:09:16 GMT

I am currently using Hemke Tenor reeds and I am contemplating La Voz reeds. How does the tone compare between the two (Hmeke vs. La Voz)?

plastic reed holders

sopsax — Thu, 17 Feb 2005 21:15:31 GMT

My teenage sax instructor tells me my Rico Royals should be stored upside down in the plastic reed holders, i.e. the opposite of the way they are delivered. This doesn't seem right to me but you can't argue with a teenager.

Can anyone confirm?

Thx

Can someone help me plz!!!

feelingsaxy — Mon, 04 Jul 2005 17:03:51 GMT

Hi i have heard of reeds that arnt made of reed or sumthin i think there plastic i was wondering if anyone has used them and do u have an opinion r they gd or not? Cheers