Synthetic Reeds - 3 Weeks - What I learned
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- Опубліковано 8 лип 2024
- The oracle recently spent 3 weeks trying to convert from cane reeds to synthetic reeds. He shares the positives and negatives of the 2 brands he experimented with, and more importantly shares what he learned from the experience. He also lists the key points to keep in my for anyone thinking of making the switch.
To contact the oracle or to access his free PDF materials, please visit www.thesaxophoneoracle.com
0:00 Cold opening
0:22 Intro
1:09 Why switch now?
2:18 Play testing brand #1
3:00 Oracle's assessment of brand #1
5:29 Play testing brand #2
6:16 Oracle's assessment of brand #2
8:30 Did the oracle make the switch permanently?
9:31 The key takeaways when considering synthetic reeds
12:05 Reed - Mouthpiece - Horn - how important is the "holy trinity of saxophone"?
13:00 Conclusion / Outro
Love my Legere Signature on alto. I gig every night and practice everyday, and they work for me. And yes--I can get a good straight ahead sound on them as well as a contemporary sound if I push it. Maybe not for everyone but works for me. And not a newbie--been playing professionally for 40 plus years.
I'm jealous... wish I had the same experience! Thank you for watching and commenting.
@@TheSaxophoneOracle Don't give up--take a while to find your perfect strength. And it does take a while to get used to. If I was recording straight ahead jazz for Blue Note records...I would probably use a whole different setup! haha Love your vids--keep up the good work!
Agreed 100%. At very high altitude (over 6000 feet), synthetics are THE choice. Also for doubling in a big band.
I'm no Oracle but I agree with the review. I occasionally use the clear brand as a backup. I tried to use it as my main reed but it just didn't sound or feel as good as cane to me. I now use cane 99.9% of the time.
Glad you liked it. Thanks so much for continuing to watch and for commenting!
Thanks for the clarification.
Thanks for watching and glad that it was helpful!
Great review. Great channel. Great content.
My own two cents worth-
As an amateur/hobbyist I have found synthetic reeds a great fit for me. Too much time wasted trying to get the great cane reed of yesterday to be a great cane reed today and a lot of faffing around before actually doing some practice. They don't require any care or break in time other than a quick wash under the tap at the end of practice /gig. I've got up to six months of playing from a single synthetic reed. I've also peared some down with a blade with some degree of success if I got the strength wrong when ordering.
Downside - they become softer over time so what started out as a 3 will turn into something less than a 3 over extended use with reducing satisfaction with the sound. It then takes time to adjust to your new 3. The tip is just a prone to damage as a cane reed and so mistakes are expensive.
I use the clear ones with the quarter increments. They are very consistent. Some synthetic brands are less consistent in their stated strengths.
Thanks for sharing your insights. I don't think I'd feel comfortable fiddling with a plastic reed, but if I could get 6 months out of a single reed I would definitely switch to the "clear plastic" brand. I can honestly (and accurately) say that the one's I tried basically lasted 40 playing hours. Maybe I got some duds?
I have had synthetic reeds last for at least a year (although I do rotate between a handful). As mentioned elsewhere, they’re sensitive to the mpc they are matched to.
I am a beginner player. To be precise, I have spent only 60 hours tooting on three mouth pieces using two cane Reed strengths (1-1/2 and 2). I wanted to try a different brand to see if I could get more consistent tones at low and high air volume but ran into a recent phenomenon where stores are only stocking synthetic reeds at a beginning strength of 2-1/2. Apparently, the local teachers are prescribing these for their new students! I know you demonstrated with cane reeds that some inconsistencies occur with lower strength reeds, but wondering what you think of this new starting point for beginner players?
Thank you for watching and commenting. I do believe 2 or 2.5 is the ideal starting place (with cane reeds) - to get a stable tone you need a certain amount of resistance and anything softer will work against you. However, synthetic reeds tend to play much harder than a typical 2 or 2.5, so a 1.5 or 1.75 might be ok with a plastic reed. Just because a reed is "softer" doesn't mean it's better for a beginner and a harder reed doesn't mean a player is more advanced. It's about finding the right amount of resistance that matches your mouthpiece. As a beginner, getting a good sound, air support, and embouchure will take time, but you need to start with equipment that will allow you to achieve this, so I'd avoid playing too soft of a reed.
I do like how edgy the American Cut are, but if you liked the Legere generally maybe try the Signature if you haven't? Still has some of the problems you mentioned, but gets rid of some of that brightness. I've had problems with the Venn's and getting the right strength too. I ended up filing down the heart of an alto one and that did improve it's response a fair bit, but I don't want to have to work a $30 reed. *Never burnt through a Legere in 40 hours though lol, always just eventually break it. Have only worn out a soft bari reed, and that was after like a year lol. My first teacher said he had an alto reed last him 2 years once.
Thanks for your comment. Perhaps I'll give the signature a try next time I pop into a music shop. I've heard of people working on plastic reeds, but that seems silly... might as well work on cane..
@@TheSaxophoneOracle Update: so I took sandpaper to the rest of the Venn reed (parts that make contact with my lip) after this, and it makes it feel incredibly real to just have that texture. Also I've since learned that "American cut" was a synonym for "unfiled" reeds, so I'm curious if Legere expects people to work them some?
I have tried a few different synthetic reeds, hoping to find consistent durability along with a good sound, but so far have been disappointed. I play an Otto Link Tone Edge #7 mouthpiece and none of the synthetic reeds were suitable for me. However I do like the D'Addario Plasticover reeds for consistency, even if there is a slight sacrifice in tone & dynamics. Recently I tried the Venn reed on a Rousseau 4R mouthpiece and it played well and had a good tone. But until the technology improves I will continue to stick to cane.
Thanks for sharing your experience. I'd completely forgotten that plasticover was still around. None of the stores in my area have carried those since the 90's. Now you've got me curious to order a box or 2 to try them out.
I use Legere signature have done for 21/2 years each last for up to 3 months I practice 11/2 hrs per day on each reed (tenor then bari) I find Studio cut too bright, the signature is dark enough on my tenor to leech some light out of the room😉.
I still use Regoti Gold but prefer the Legere, but I'm a newbie so what do I know?
I would never discount the opinion of "newbie" and I'm very careful to state that these are my opinions / findings and that everyone should do what's right for them. If you are happy with your reeds AND are getting about 3 months of use then I would not change a thing. If I could get the ones I tried to last 3 months then I would honestly make the switch and compromise for the rest. Sounds like you've found winning reed! Thanks for watching and commenting!
Very good points; nice video! I too have invested many hundreds of dollars over the past several years, trying most of the bigger names in synthetic reeds, but finally settled on the two reeds you mention here. I play "the clear brand" on soprano and "the other brand" on tenor and alto and love them. As much as I'd love to be a cane reed guru, as a family man, business owner, and dog parent, I simply don't have the time (plus, humidity is high where I live). Sustainability is another consideration for me, and I believe that synthetic reeds (generally speaking) MAY have a smaller carbon footprint than cane mostly because the user goes through less of them and there are fewer plastic reed sleeves that end up in landfills (again, this is just my suspicion...I am not an expert on energy use intensity nor have I performed a life cycle cost analysis on reeds or their manufacturing process). When I do play cane, however, I find that a) flattening the table of the reed with a ReedGeek solves many/most of the problems, and b) a certain French brand whose name begins with 'R' is very, very consistent. Thanks again!
Those are some great points. Like you, I'm overextended with my time and commitments which is one reason I would love to make plastic reeds work for me. The environmental argument is an interesting one that I haven't thought much about, but that is a problem... the individual reed case does create a ton of waste, and that lets face it, most of the time doesn't get recycled. I don't know if vandoren is still doing this, but last time I tried a box of their reeds not only did they have individual cases, they were all individually wrapped - which I found borderline offensive tbh.
My clear synthetic read plays as smooth a glass. It feels so great. The problem is that it is cold as ice. Damn ugly.
I personally don't like the sound of them and I'll stick to cane. I've always said that plastic reeds weren't around at the times of the great sax players. Young players need to familiarise themselves with the sounds of the great players using cane. That clear brand sounded "dry and woollen" to me. I'll stick to Rico Royal as they give me the fine tone of Parker on alto and a crisp tone on my tenor. I play for a very long time on my cane.
Glad you have found something that works for you and thanks for sharing!
there are more than a couple of videos out with pro's with mostly 20+ years playing on reed canes that review synthetic ones and the results are more predictable than the quality of a cane reed fresh out of a box :D so there must be some truth in it I guess... for the pro's I think it's more or less a no brainer which reed to use, but I am curious if that differs from amateur players which maybe have some different needs?
I think beginners do have different needs to a certain extent. For one thing - the consistency is useful, because a beginner will have trouble knowing when the reed might be working against them. It also takes a certain level of ability to truly use any piece of equipment to your advantage or to its fullest. If you put me in a Ferrari and an F-1 driver in a Toyota Corolla I'd probably loose the race every time. I think it's the same for saxophone. It makes sense for a beginner to use what works easiest and most consistently until they progress to a level where a change in equipment would make any significant difference.
Hello, master, can you tell me the truth: is plastic reed harmful ore dangerous for our health?.?
HEY SAXOPHONE ORACLE HAVE U TRYED FIBRACELL. I PLAY FIBRACELL FOR YEARS AND THEY ARE GREAT AS LONG U HAVE THE RIGHT SIZE ANY WAY I HOPE U GIVE THAT ONE A TRY I THINK U WOULD BE VERY SURPRISED ALL THE BEST MIKE
Thanks for the suggestion. I tried Fibracell years ago, when they first came out and didn't like them, but I imagine they've improved a lot since them. I'll give them another shot.