I think you did an excellent job on this video. You are a good player, obviously intelligent and address issues most clarinetists are likely concerned with. Thank you for your final thoughts too! So far, cane is the best choice for many players but synthetics are making huge leaps!
I totally agree with your comments about the strength chart from Legere, I recently bought a 3.25 reed and it wasn’t just the proper strength to me even though the chart explains it might be similar to 3 - 3.5 cane redes, unfortunately for me I cannot return the reed because from Colombia the shipping cost is almost 5 times the value of the reed so I guess I have to try it with different mouthpiece. From my point of view I liked a little bit more the Blue reed but it might be my speaker system anyhow thanks for your videos .
Thanks for your support Martin! It is very frustrating, I hope Legere takes the time to make their chart more accurate in the future, as you’re right, not everyone has the ability to take advantage of the trade-in program.
Interesting to see your results! I had the literal exact opposite experience to you with all these reeds. I have played Legere Euro cut for ages and really like them. I was super interested to try the AMBIpoly reeds given my good experience with Legere. I tried the Vivace and Primo and they sound reaally not good on my mouthpiece. I've also found similar things switching between different types of Legeres. Some cuts work amazingly, some completely suck. Seems to me at this point that synthetic reeds are very very sensitive to what mouthpiece you play. Not sure why that would be, but like I said, I had the exact opposite experience to you. (I play a backun vocalise mouthpiece, silvertstein cryo4 ligature)
Ah that is very interesting! I do think you are right; that the design of the mouthpiece is paramount to the individual reeds working well. I know Hawkins at least partially designed the Vocalise line with the Euro Signatures in mind, so it would make sense that they would work excellently on that setup. I’m just curious, which Vocalise mouthpiece do you play?
I play a Backun/Hawkins Vocalise at the moment and have had good luck with the European Signature Legere. I really like the complexity of the sound you get with the Vivace and the Legere European Signature.
Trying the Vocalise series with the Legere European Signature has been on my list for a while, I have only heard good things at this point! Thank you for watching and commenting!
@@ParkHouseCreations definitely worth a try. I had my set of clarinets stolen in 2019 and bought a Vocalise as a “need something but probably won’t be my main mouthpiece” and was surprised by it. The G with a synthetic reed is nice. With a cane reed, it’s too dull but with a synthetic reed it takes some of the high partials out and just mellows the sound. It’s pretty nice.
Ah, I’m sorry to hear about your instruments being stolen, thats a nightmare scenario! Were you able to get them back? And what strength legere do you pair with the G?
@@ParkHouseCreations never got them back sadly. I find Legere sizing inconsistent and go between a 3.5 and a 4 with Legere European Signature which I know they just renamed. I normally try to buy a bit harder Legere reeds and I’d they’re too much dip them in boiling water for 5-6 seconds to soften them a bit.
Ah, thats terrible about the instruments. Thank you for the information about the Legere/Hawkins/Backun setup though. It gives me a good place to start!
I settled on the 3.75 Soprano Sax reed paired with a Vandoren Geman D30 mouthpiece but haven't tried the Silverstein. It would be interesting to compare the 3.25 with the harder strengths
I thought the Legere European clarinet reed had the best sound. More resonance and color than the others. Articulation seemed to sound a little cleaner and clearer too. The others reeds sounded acceptable to me, but just seemed to lack something compared to the Legere European Signature.
I’d never thought to try a soprano sax reed on clarinet! Interesting. What qualities of the soprano reed would a person be interested in to chose to use it for a clarinet; or in other words: why?
Probably 6-7 years ago players discovered that the soprano sax reed worked better for some players on clarinet than the Signature reeds Legere was producing at the time. Legere, having noticed this, developed the European Signature Reed in an effort to improve on the Soprano Sax model. Some players still prefer the Soprano Sax reed though. At identical strengths, the soprano sax is typically a little harder and provides more resistance to blow against and the sound is also a little more round.
I have not found that Legere Signature European reed strengths are that different from the Vandoren strength rating system. I find that, say, a 3.5 to 3.75 European Signature reed is in the ballpark of a 3.5 Vandoren V-12 or Traditional reed. However, it is my experience that their standard Signature clarinet reed strengths are at least one-half strength harder than the equivalent number Vandoren reeds (V-12 or traditional).
I think a big part of the confusion when Legere first released their European Signature reeds, was exactly what you are saying. Most people who used them had grown used to the strength of the Signature reed and the European’s strength was noticeably different. At the time that shift didn’t appear to be accurately reflected in their chart. Thankfully it all seems cleared up now! Thanks for watching and commenting!!
@@ParkHouseCreations I find there is some disparity in strength ratings between the two versions of the Signature alto sax reeds, though not as much as with soprano clarinet. I find the American cut Legere alto sax reeds to be 1/4 to 1/2 strength softer than the same number standard Signature alto. Somewhat different there, since the American cut alto reeds seems to be more specifically oriented toward non-concert styles of playing.
Hey Emanuele, that’s a good question! I am not too sure about how the European cuts compare with the Silverstein due to Legere’s kind of weird strength chart. I would guess that you would have to reduce to a strength 4. I would reach out to the people at Silverstein and ask what they think, they were very helpful when I was trying to figure out what strength to use! I feel their strengths correspond well to Vandoren V12s, so if you know your strength there, it’s a good place to start! Sorry I can’t be of more help!
My standard mouthpiece for the last 4ish years has been a pretty heavily modified BD5. The mouthpiece is more free blowing and the facing is considerably more closed than a copy straight from Vandoren. I tried the reeds on it, but they were too soft. I would guess I would need a 3.5+ for my standard mouthpiece.
I preferred the sound of the Blue (listening with good headphones). Initially I thought that the Legeres were a bit harder in comparison and thus "too hard" sound wise, but I understood from your comments below that they actually felt a bit softer. Did I understand correctly that you would think a Blue 3.0 would be equivalent in strength of a Legere Euro cut 3.25?
Ya, for myself, when a reed is too soft I find that it ends up having a similar sound characteristic to a reed that is too hard. Probably because in both cases I am trying hard to make the reed conform to my sound concept and it is not quite working. In general, the Legere's have always just "felt" a little different than normal reeds and I think that remains true for the Legere/Silverstein comparison, so direct strength comparisons are a little tough. I would guess that a Blue 3.0 would be equivalent to a Legere Euro 3.25 though. I would really recommend asking Silverstein directly though, I am sure they have done better testing than I have in that regard!
@@ParkHouseCreations good old b40 lol Didn’t like the original Legeres too much, I tried the Euros when they came out. I started with 3.25 and it was super soft, sound spread super easily, but I felt the color I was looking for was hidden in there so I tried up to 3.5, 3.75, and 4 and 3.75 was the sweet spot.
@@ImOriginallyGreen I play a 3.5-3.5+ V12 and the Legere Euro Signature is much softer than the strength chart says. I tried a 4.0 and even that was slightly too soft. It amazes me that I can play a 3.5 V12 and a 4.25 Legere. Maybe I've gotten mislabeled Legeres?
Thank you for your video! I like sound with silverstein blue! I have a not good memory with legere europeancut…. So, I will try blue! ^^ Can you recommend blue reed size? (Vandoren v12 / 3.5 use, and legere europeancut / 3.75 used) (Vandoren bd5 mouthpiece, silverstein hexa ligature use)
Hey SeongHeon thank you for watching! I would message Silverstein directly with your question. They were very helpful when I had the same question when deciding on reed strengths for this video! I just don’t want to give you the wrong information!
It’s a little difficult for me to say, I’m not exactly sure. The European cut 3.25 feels softer to me than the Silverstein reeds in general. However the Vivace was also the softest of the Silverstein reeds. I would guess you would find 3.0 or 3+ Vivace comfortable. I would also ask Silverstein directly, they were helpful for me in determining which reed strength to buy!
This is tough and I really don't have a good answer unfortunately. I haven't tested a B40 Lyre in a long time, however, if I recall correctly, the Legere's were useable on it, but without testing the Silverstein's on it, I can't say if they would be better.
Soundwise I understand your preference for the Vivace as it sounds very clean close to the microphone. But the European Signature does sound the most promising to me but seems harder to control.
Vivace sounded nicest to me. But this is not a fair test for Legere in the sense that you used Silverstein's preferred mouthpiece and ligature. Just using a Legere reed on any setup is not going to give you all that the Legere has to give! I found this out when switching to Legere from VanDoren V-12 reeds. The Legere European reeds did not play well on my beloved VanDoren Mouthpieces and Ligatures. (Excepting the VanDoren BD5 mouthpiece.) If I were to say that there is a "preferred Legere mouthpiece" I would say that it is the Backun Vocalise. Although the VanDoren BD5 also plays very well with the Legere European Signature cut for me. Then you have to pick the reed strength and mouthpiece facing that works best for you. Backun has 3 facings for a hard rubber Vocalise and a "Crystal" option. Also, there is the question of ligature - I have 2 Silverstein ligatures and for me neither one of them is any good with a Legere European Reed! In the end I was surprised that the best ligature for me for Legere is the BG Duo.
Hey Mark, thank you for commenting! I agree with you and think I made mention of this in the video when I talk about how I used to play on a MoBa Crystal mouthpiece and found the setup much more favorable for Legere. Ive played Legere Europeans on a BD5 for a time as well. I agree that the sound/response was pretty good, but in general the reeds brought the pitch too low on the standard 440 version to be useable in the ensembles I was playing in at the time. That being said, at some point in the future I’ll make an effort to test legere with the Hawkins/Backun mouthpieces and find a combination that really works for me there.
@@ParkHouseCreations Hi Eric, this is lengthy but maybe you'll find it helpful in some way. I don't know of anyone who made the change to a synthetic reed because it sounded better the first time they played it! Yet, there are performers giving truly virtuoso performances on synthetic reeds. So, why did they change if it didn't sound good at first? I can't speak for others but for me it was a lifestyle change. I saw in one of your videos that you had a plastic container with maybe 2 dozen cane reeds in it. I smirked to myself - it reminded me of me before I made a commitment to change to synthetic reeds. I changed because I was travelling - or more like commuting - between New York and Florida in the Winter. I left Florida with some really great cane reeds and when I got to New York they played like crap. That was it - out came the synthetic reed and I made the commitment to change. Commitment to change - not just a change - because, like you said you heard from others, a good synthetic reed was maybe better than 90 - 95% of cane reeds and I wanted - no demanded - that last 5%! And getting that last 5% - and yes you can get it - took time for me. What did I learn in making the change? First, the VanDoren M30 mouthpiece that I used most just did not cut it with a synthetic reed. Second, the VanDoren Ligatures that I loved ( Optimum and M/O ) did not cut it with a synthetic reed. Nor did my two Silverstein ligatures. Third, there are other mouthpieces and ligatures that work much better right from the start with synthetic. So, I started with a set-up that sounded like it had potential and started using it exclusively and got back to basics - all the embouchure basics and long tomes especially. I learned a few things doing this that were helpful not just for synthetic reeds but for my overall tone so it was worth the effort for me. In particular I found that I was playing with a fair amount of throat tension and lower jaw pressure and I needed to correct those bad habits. Today, my primary setup is a Backun Vocalise "G" facing mouthpiece, a BG DUO ligature and Legere 3.75 European Signature Cut reeds. I also have two VanDoren BD5 mouthpieces that I sometimes use instead of the Vocalise and they are also really good with the chosen Legere reeds and BG ligature. Another thing I learned, and I don't hear it talked about a lot, is that Legere Reeds seem to perform better / last longer if they are rotated. I use a rotation of 3 reeds and play for up to 3 hours on a reed and then rotate to the next one. Each of my Legere reeds is also different in age by about 2 weeks. So, towards the end of their life I can start to feel the strength difference and get ready to put new ones into rotation. The last time I did the math I figured out that I get something around 200 - 220 playing hours out of a Legere Reed. So, I'm a fan of synthetic reeds - but there is one thing I hate about them... I've dropped my mouthpiece a few times with a Legere on it and the way it hit the music stand, or something else, damaged the tip of the reed. Those are costly - $30 - drops! Happy playing!
Hey Mark, thanks again for commenting! I don’t remember how much I go into it in my videos, but I have used Legere extensively in the past. I made the commitment to switch to Legere and played on them for quite a while when the Regular signature was their premiere Reed, before the Euro came out. I had a few mouthpieces I used with them, but it was mainly a Zinner Hawkins R and Zinner Hawkins G. At the time, those mouthpieces probably represented the best setup for plastic reeds. I got a lot of mileage out of Legere during that time and probably have close to a couple dozen various Legere reeds lying around. I agree with you that rotating through them is important! Why did I switch back? Well ultimately, cane was more comfortable for me. I don’t really have a lot of Reed problems. In general I don’t work on them, I have a set break in routine and after that I usually have plenty to choose from. Do they last as long as legeres? Probably not, but I can still get plenty of life from one reed as I rotate them heavily (typically I have 40-50 reeds that I can choose from at any given time.) I have absolutely nothing against synthetic reeds and I expect that at some point in the future virtually all clarinetists will use them. I completely agree that there are some players doing some incredibly virtuosic things and making some very beautiful music with them. At some point I will go down the Legere rabbit hole again to find a better setup for the Euro reeds, but for now I’m pretty content with what I play! Thanks again for commenting, I think your comment will be really helpful and encouraging for other people thinking about making the switch!
Haha, but no! What I like about having everyone comment before they've watched the whole video is I get to see the actual difference in opinion. Sound preference is such a personal thing, I definitely get it! Thank you for taking the time to comment!
I definitely preferred the Silverstein Blue. Amazing sound and excellent articulation.
Thanks Weihan, I appreciate it!
I think you did an excellent job on this video. You are a good player, obviously intelligent and address issues most clarinetists are likely concerned with.
Thank you for your final thoughts too! So far, cane is the best choice for many players but synthetics are making huge leaps!
Thank you for the kind words Robert!
I totally agree with your comments about the strength chart from Legere, I recently bought a 3.25 reed and it wasn’t just the proper strength to me even though the chart explains it might be similar to 3 - 3.5 cane redes, unfortunately for me I cannot return the reed because from Colombia the shipping cost is almost 5 times the value of the reed so I guess I have to try it with different mouthpiece. From my point of view I liked a little bit more the Blue reed but it might be my speaker system anyhow thanks for your videos .
Thanks for your support Martin! It is very frustrating, I hope Legere takes the time to make their chart more accurate in the future, as you’re right, not everyone has the ability to take advantage of the trade-in program.
Interesting to see your results! I had the literal exact opposite experience to you with all these reeds. I have played Legere Euro cut for ages and really like them. I was super interested to try the AMBIpoly reeds given my good experience with Legere. I tried the Vivace and Primo and they sound reaally not good on my mouthpiece. I've also found similar things switching between different types of Legeres. Some cuts work amazingly, some completely suck. Seems to me at this point that synthetic reeds are very very sensitive to what mouthpiece you play. Not sure why that would be, but like I said, I had the exact opposite experience to you. (I play a backun vocalise mouthpiece, silvertstein cryo4 ligature)
Ah that is very interesting! I do think you are right; that the design of the mouthpiece is paramount to the individual reeds working well. I know Hawkins at least partially designed the Vocalise line with the Euro Signatures in mind, so it would make sense that they would work excellently on that setup. I’m just curious, which Vocalise mouthpiece do you play?
I agree, mouthpiece change a lot the feeling and response.
It obviously happen even with cane, but not that much.
I finally got an Alta Blue. Sounds so much better than the Legere Classic to me.
That’s great! It’s definitely a solid alternative!
Early on I like the Vivace best and Primo a close second...when you play them.
Thanks for watching! I’m glad I’m not alone in my preference for the Vivace sound!
I play a Backun/Hawkins Vocalise at the moment and have had good luck with the European Signature Legere. I really like the complexity of the sound you get with the Vivace and the Legere European Signature.
Trying the Vocalise series with the Legere European Signature has been on my list for a while, I have only heard good things at this point! Thank you for watching and commenting!
@@ParkHouseCreations definitely worth a try. I had my set of clarinets stolen in 2019 and bought a Vocalise as a “need something but probably won’t be my main mouthpiece” and was surprised by it. The G with a synthetic reed is nice. With a cane reed, it’s too dull but with a synthetic reed it takes some of the high partials out and just mellows the sound. It’s pretty nice.
Ah, I’m sorry to hear about your instruments being stolen, thats a nightmare scenario! Were you able to get them back? And what strength legere do you pair with the G?
@@ParkHouseCreations never got them back sadly. I find Legere sizing inconsistent and go between a 3.5 and a 4 with Legere European Signature which I know they just renamed. I normally try to buy a bit harder Legere reeds and I’d they’re too much dip them in boiling water for 5-6 seconds to soften them a bit.
Ah, thats terrible about the instruments. Thank you for the information about the Legere/Hawkins/Backun setup though. It gives me a good place to start!
Hi Eric. Great review! Q: Some of us have intonation issues (being flat) with Legeres. What's the intonation like with the Ambipoly lineup? Thanks.
I settled on the 3.75 Soprano Sax reed paired with a Vandoren Geman D30 mouthpiece but haven't tried the Silverstein. It would be interesting to compare the 3.25 with the harder strengths
I hope to in the future, synthetic prices need to drop, the cost is adding up haha!
I did like the Vivace most. There is this wooden nuance in the sound, exactly the thing Legere is missing - and I am.
Wooden nuance is a good way of putting it! Thanks for watching and commenting!
I liked the blue and the primo the most
Thanks for the feedback!
I preferred the Silverstein Blue. I'm not alone I see. I kinda thought Légère 3.25 was too thick? Even though the articulation seemed better than ok.
I would like to repeat this video eventually with a mouthpiece that I think is more suited to Legere reeds!
I thought the Legere European clarinet reed had the best sound. More resonance and color than the others. Articulation seemed to sound a little cleaner and clearer too. The others reeds sounded acceptable to me, but just seemed to lack something compared to the Legere European Signature.
Thanks for watching and commenting!
I’d never thought to try a soprano sax reed on clarinet! Interesting. What qualities of the soprano reed would a person be interested in to chose to use it for a clarinet; or in other words: why?
Probably 6-7 years ago players discovered that the soprano sax reed worked better for some players on clarinet than the Signature reeds Legere was producing at the time. Legere, having noticed this, developed the European Signature Reed in an effort to improve on the Soprano Sax model. Some players still prefer the Soprano Sax reed though. At identical strengths, the soprano sax is typically a little harder and provides more resistance to blow against and the sound is also a little more round.
I have not found that Legere Signature European reed strengths are that different from the Vandoren strength rating system. I find that, say, a 3.5 to 3.75 European Signature reed is in the ballpark of a 3.5 Vandoren V-12 or Traditional reed. However, it is my experience that their standard Signature clarinet reed strengths are at least one-half strength harder than the equivalent number Vandoren reeds (V-12 or traditional).
I think a big part of the confusion when Legere first released their European Signature reeds, was exactly what you are saying. Most people who used them had grown used to the strength of the Signature reed and the European’s strength was noticeably different. At the time that shift didn’t appear to be accurately reflected in their chart. Thankfully it all seems cleared up now! Thanks for watching and commenting!!
@@ParkHouseCreations I find there is some disparity in strength ratings between the two versions of the Signature alto sax reeds, though not as much as with soprano clarinet. I find the American cut Legere alto sax reeds to be 1/4 to 1/2 strength softer than the same number standard Signature alto. Somewhat different there, since the American cut alto reeds seems to be more specifically oriented toward non-concert styles of playing.
Thank you for the video ! If i play Legere Signature European cut 4.25...what gradation i Will use with Silverstein ambipoly?
Hey Emanuele, that’s a good question! I am not too sure about how the European cuts compare with the Silverstein due to Legere’s kind of weird strength chart. I would guess that you would have to reduce to a strength 4. I would reach out to the people at Silverstein and ask what they think, they were very helpful when I was trying to figure out what strength to use! I feel their strengths correspond well to Vandoren V12s, so if you know your strength there, it’s a good place to start! Sorry I can’t be of more help!
@@ParkHouseCreations Thank you 😊
Have you tried the Silverstein on your normal mouthpiece? Or is that the main mouthpiece you use?
My standard mouthpiece for the last 4ish years has been a pretty heavily modified BD5. The mouthpiece is more free blowing and the facing is considerably more closed than a copy straight from Vandoren. I tried the reeds on it, but they were too soft. I would guess I would need a 3.5+ for my standard mouthpiece.
I preferred the sound of the Blue (listening with good headphones). Initially I thought that the Legeres were a bit harder in comparison and thus "too hard" sound wise, but I understood from your comments below that they actually felt a bit softer. Did I understand correctly that you would think a Blue 3.0 would be equivalent in strength of a Legere Euro cut 3.25?
Ya, for myself, when a reed is too soft I find that it ends up having a similar sound characteristic to a reed that is too hard. Probably because in both cases I am trying hard to make the reed conform to my sound concept and it is not quite working. In general, the Legere's have always just "felt" a little different than normal reeds and I think that remains true for the Legere/Silverstein comparison, so direct strength comparisons are a little tough. I would guess that a Blue 3.0 would be equivalent to a Legere Euro 3.25 though. I would really recommend asking Silverstein directly though, I am sure they have done better testing than I have in that regard!
@@ParkHouseCreations Thanks :-)
I play 3.5 v12s but 3.75 euro cut, yeah the reeds charts are wrong
Thanks for watching! What mouthpiece do you use with that combination?
@@ParkHouseCreations good old b40 lol
Didn’t like the original Legeres too much, I tried the Euros when they came out. I started with 3.25 and it was super soft, sound spread super easily, but I felt the color I was looking for was hidden in there so I tried up to 3.5, 3.75, and 4 and 3.75 was the sweet spot.
@@ImOriginallyGreen I play a 3.5-3.5+ V12 and the Legere Euro Signature is much softer than the strength chart says. I tried a 4.0 and even that was slightly too soft. It amazes me that I can play a 3.5 V12 and a 4.25 Legere. Maybe I've gotten mislabeled Legeres?
Thank you for your video!
I like sound with silverstein blue!
I have a not good memory with legere europeancut….
So, I will try blue! ^^
Can you recommend blue reed size?
(Vandoren v12 / 3.5 use, and legere europeancut / 3.75 used)
(Vandoren bd5 mouthpiece, silverstein hexa ligature use)
Hey SeongHeon thank you for watching! I would message Silverstein directly with your question. They were very helpful when I had the same question when deciding on reed strengths for this video! I just don’t want to give you the wrong information!
I have a question
I usually used europeancut 3.25 now
Interested viviace
Vivace 3+ and European cut 3.25
Same Strength?
It’s a little difficult for me to say, I’m not exactly sure. The European cut 3.25 feels softer to me than the Silverstein reeds in general. However the Vivace was also the softest of the Silverstein reeds. I would guess you would find 3.0 or 3+ Vivace comfortable. I would also ask Silverstein directly, they were helpful for me in determining which reed strength to buy!
For me: Primo + and European Cut sound best.
Interesting! Despite the strength differences, the Primo probably was the most similar to the European Cut from the 3 Silverstein reeds!
I currently play on a B40 lyre with vandoren traditional 3.5. Should I go with Legere or Silverstein?
This is tough and I really don't have a good answer unfortunately. I haven't tested a B40 Lyre in a long time, however, if I recall correctly, the Legere's were useable on it, but without testing the Silverstein's on it, I can't say if they would be better.
Soundwise I understand your preference for the Vivace as it sounds very clean close to the microphone. But the European Signature does sound the most promising to me but seems harder to control.
Fair enough, I can understand wanting a little more complexity in the sound!
I ordered a Blue. Beware that Silverstein charges $10 shipping for that tiny little package. Buy from another vendor if possible.
Oof, I should have mentioned that in my review. Silverstein’s shipping is not economical
Where can we buy these reeds?
I bought mine directly from Silverstein, though I believe they also have retailers that stock their products!
Vivace sounded nicest to me.
But this is not a fair test for Legere in the sense that you used Silverstein's preferred mouthpiece and ligature.
Just using a Legere reed on any setup is not going to give you all that the Legere has to give!
I found this out when switching to Legere from VanDoren V-12 reeds. The Legere European reeds did not play well on my beloved VanDoren Mouthpieces and Ligatures. (Excepting the VanDoren BD5 mouthpiece.)
If I were to say that there is a "preferred Legere mouthpiece" I would say that it is the Backun Vocalise. Although the VanDoren BD5 also plays very well with the Legere European Signature cut for me.
Then you have to pick the reed strength and mouthpiece facing that works best for you. Backun has 3 facings for a hard rubber Vocalise and a "Crystal" option.
Also, there is the question of ligature - I have 2 Silverstein ligatures and for me neither one of them is any good with a Legere European Reed! In the end I was surprised that the best ligature for me for Legere is the BG Duo.
Hey Mark, thank you for commenting! I agree with you and think I made mention of this in the video when I talk about how I used to play on a MoBa Crystal mouthpiece and found the setup much more favorable for Legere. Ive played Legere Europeans on a BD5 for a time as well. I agree that the sound/response was pretty good, but in general the reeds brought the pitch too low on the standard 440 version to be useable in the ensembles I was playing in at the time. That being said, at some point in the future I’ll make an effort to test legere with the Hawkins/Backun mouthpieces and find a combination that really works for me there.
@@ParkHouseCreations Hi Eric, this is lengthy but maybe you'll find it helpful in some way.
I don't know of anyone who made the change to a synthetic reed because it sounded better the first time they played it! Yet, there are performers giving truly virtuoso performances on synthetic reeds. So, why did they change if it didn't sound good at first?
I can't speak for others but for me it was a lifestyle change.
I saw in one of your videos that you had a plastic container with maybe 2 dozen cane reeds in it. I smirked to myself - it reminded me of me before I made a commitment to change to synthetic reeds.
I changed because I was travelling - or more like commuting - between New York and Florida in the Winter. I left Florida with some really great cane reeds and when I got to New York they played like crap. That was it - out came the synthetic reed and I made the commitment to change.
Commitment to change - not just a change - because, like you said you heard from others, a good synthetic reed was maybe better than 90 - 95% of cane reeds and I wanted - no demanded - that last 5%! And getting that last 5% - and yes you can get it - took time for me.
What did I learn in making the change?
First, the VanDoren M30 mouthpiece that I used most just did not cut it with a synthetic reed.
Second, the VanDoren Ligatures that I loved ( Optimum and M/O ) did not cut it with a synthetic reed. Nor did my two Silverstein ligatures.
Third, there are other mouthpieces and ligatures that work much better right from the start with synthetic.
So, I started with a set-up that sounded like it had potential and started using it exclusively and got back to basics - all the embouchure basics and long tomes especially.
I learned a few things doing this that were helpful not just for synthetic reeds but for my overall tone so it was worth the effort for me. In particular I found that I was playing with a fair amount of throat tension and lower jaw pressure and I needed to correct those bad habits.
Today, my primary setup is a Backun Vocalise "G" facing mouthpiece, a BG DUO ligature and Legere 3.75 European Signature Cut reeds. I also have two VanDoren BD5 mouthpieces that I sometimes use instead of the Vocalise and they are also really good with the chosen Legere reeds and BG ligature.
Another thing I learned, and I don't hear it talked about a lot, is that Legere Reeds seem to perform better / last longer if they are rotated. I use a rotation of 3 reeds and play for up to 3 hours on a reed and then rotate to the next one. Each of my Legere reeds is also different in age by about 2 weeks. So, towards the end of their life I can start to feel the strength difference and get ready to put new ones into rotation. The last time I did the math I figured out that I get something around 200 - 220 playing hours out of a Legere Reed.
So, I'm a fan of synthetic reeds - but there is one thing I hate about them... I've dropped my mouthpiece a few times with a Legere on it and the way it hit the music stand, or something else, damaged the tip of the reed. Those are costly - $30 - drops!
Happy playing!
Hey Mark, thanks again for commenting! I don’t remember how much I go into it in my videos, but I have used Legere extensively in the past. I made the commitment to switch to Legere and played on them for quite a while when the Regular signature was their premiere Reed, before the Euro came out. I had a few mouthpieces I used with them, but it was mainly a Zinner Hawkins R and Zinner Hawkins G. At the time, those mouthpieces probably represented the best setup for plastic reeds. I got a lot of mileage out of Legere during that time and probably have close to a couple dozen various Legere reeds lying around. I agree with you that rotating through them is important! Why did I switch back? Well ultimately, cane was more comfortable for me. I don’t really have a lot of Reed problems. In general I don’t work on them, I have a set break in routine and after that I usually have plenty to choose from. Do they last as long as legeres? Probably not, but I can still get plenty of life from one reed as I rotate them heavily (typically I have 40-50 reeds that I can choose from at any given time.) I have absolutely nothing against synthetic reeds and I expect that at some point in the future virtually all clarinetists will use them. I completely agree that there are some players doing some incredibly virtuosic things and making some very beautiful music with them. At some point I will go down the Legere rabbit hole again to find a better setup for the Euro reeds, but for now I’m pretty content with what I play! Thanks again for commenting, I think your comment will be really helpful and encouraging for other people thinking about making the switch!
Legere european.
Oops-better get my hearing checked LOL
Haha, but no! What I like about having everyone comment before they've watched the whole video is I get to see the actual difference in opinion. Sound preference is such a personal thing, I definitely get it! Thank you for taking the time to comment!