I picked B. I can hear the same difference between my cane and plastic reeds. I wish I could understand the difference and figure out how to reconcile it. I just decided to settle on the legere bbes3.0 on a Yamaha 4c so I can get back to practicing and not fiddling. Seems like i can spend forever accomplishing nothing. Michelle Anderson reviewed Legere a while back and said it took her two months to develop the sound she wanted. She said it's worth it for the consistency in reeds and longevity. I hope I can make mine work well because it's apparent how much more pleasant the sound of cane is but I can see from your videos (and Ridenour's videos as well) cane is a whole hobby itself! Anyway, thanks for all the videos. I just started in February and your sound is fantastic and a great inspiration.
Legere is very mouthpiece dependent, I think a good portion of the battle is just finding a setup that really allows the reed to work as it was intended. But I think you are right to try making one setup work for a while. It can be very frustrating and headache inducing when learning to play if you start worrying about all the “gear” variables available to you. Thanks for watching, I’m glad you have enjoyed the videos! I wish you the best of luck on your clarinet journey, let me know if you ever have any questions!
Toss-up between D and E. D has a bit more solid tone with brightness coming through at some moments, while most of the other reeds are more restrained and a tad airy sounding at this dynamic. E was really good though, at least for this passage; I'd be curious to hear it at F or FF across the instrument's range.
Well.... nail it on V12 and Legere European, but I’m disappointed on the Silverstein Blue I expected better sound based on previous video, for me V12 has a very warm sound its so far my favorite reed.
I think ultimately the extra resistance from my A clarinet made the reed a little less friendly for this test. I agree that it sounded better on my Bb clarinet excerpts!
A couple of comment: first of all, one should choose a mouthpiece and ligature that suits the syntethic reed not vice versa! In my experience, a mouthpiece that works with a cane reed doesn't necessarily work with a syntethic reed because the wild variety of partials in cane sound usually need a mouthpiece that somewhat filters them. So many cane reeds are discarded because The sound is too bright. Same thing with the ligature, f.ex. i don't like silverstein you seem to use with a syntethic reed because it dampens the upper partials. The syntethic reed is a thing you have to get used to. I have used them for several years because they are more similar to each other and don't change while playing. And last so much longer. Usually new colleaques i meet don't even notice that i am using a syntethic reed and when i tell them they are very surprised.
Hey Jarmo, thanks for watching! I think you would better enjoy the Legere vs. Silverstein video I did that goes into much greater detail about what I thought of each reed and some of the road blocks of testing reeds this way. I.E. some of these plastic reeds would be much better suited on other mouthpieces. I too have used synthetic reeds off and on for many years (starting on the original classic and signature Legeres, when those were the reeds to play!) And I agree, I don’t think I have ever had a colleague notice. In the end, I think I am just lucky, I don’t seem to have the same problems with cane that other people do and never really found it necessary to switch completely. I totally understand the appeal for others though!
Do you find that that the Legere Signature clarinet reeds require significantly more embouchure effort when the blowing resistance is more or less the same as a cane reed such as Vandoren? I do for clarinet. Not so much with alto sax, for me anyway.
I never have liked Legere reeds for sound, possibly never will. Silverstein is really close to the sound of the V12 but it's not quite there in all registers. My ranking based on this comparison sound test: Vandoren V12 - best sounding all categories Silverstein Vivace - best sounding synthetic reed upper register Silverstein Primo - best sounding synthetic reed lower register Silverstein Blue - sounds like a legere Legere Soprano Saxophone Signature Cut - sounds like a legere Legere European Signature Clarinet Cut - sounds like a legere
This is a solid analysis, the Legere’s really do have a very distinctive sound. I think the Blue sounds a little different, but I definitely hear the similarities you’re picking up on. I’m a little sad I didn’t get to do this test blind myself, I think there’s a couple reeds in there that will trip people up!
Interestingly enough, I liked the Silverstein Primo best, even more so than V12! PS In my own experience the Legere Sop. Sax Signature runs 1/4 harder than the Euro and 1/2 harder than V12s, so I wonder if a Strength 3 would've been a fairer comparison against the other reeds? Otherwise pretty insightful video!
Ya, getting the strengths right on legere reeds is tricky! I may be misremembering, but I think during this video I felt the Soprano Sax strength was about right. However, the Euro was definitely too soft, either that, or it was a dud.
Once again, a professional musician is playing different equipment for sound comparison. People like me are not searching youtube for the sound, we are trying to learn an instrument and searching for the accessories that best suit our learning journey. If one of those reeds was super easy and smooth to play, suitable for a beginner, or more difficult but with a better sound, suitable for an intermediate or advanced student, then that information would be much more helpful. I'm sure you could make a tree trunk sound beautiful, but for most of us, it is still a tree trunk. Not meaning to criticise, just maybe you could target students with future information you find helpful. Thanks.
Hi Robyn, I would invite you to check out my video “Silverstein vs Legere: Battle of the Synthetic Reeds” (it’s linked in the description of this video) if you are interested in an in-depth discussion and review of the individual reeds and how I found that each individual reed played, as well as what kind of setup they might be suited to. That is my primary video for these products, this video was made just for “fun.”
Thank You for this ! I like most the sound of D and the F
Thanks for watching!!
I picked B. I can hear the same difference between my cane and plastic reeds. I wish I could understand the difference and figure out how to reconcile it. I just decided to settle on the legere bbes3.0 on a Yamaha 4c so I can get back to practicing and not fiddling. Seems like i can spend forever accomplishing nothing.
Michelle Anderson reviewed Legere a while back and said it took her two months to develop the sound she wanted. She said it's worth it for the consistency in reeds and longevity.
I hope I can make mine work well because it's apparent how much more pleasant the sound of cane is but I can see from your videos (and Ridenour's videos as well) cane is a whole hobby itself!
Anyway, thanks for all the videos. I just started in February and your sound is fantastic and a great inspiration.
Legere is very mouthpiece dependent, I think a good portion of the battle is just finding a setup that really allows the reed to work as it was intended. But I think you are right to try making one setup work for a while. It can be very frustrating and headache inducing when learning to play if you start worrying about all the “gear” variables available to you. Thanks for watching, I’m glad you have enjoyed the videos! I wish you the best of luck on your clarinet journey, let me know if you ever have any questions!
Toss-up between D and E. D has a bit more solid tone with brightness coming through at some moments, while most of the other reeds are more restrained and a tad airy sounding at this dynamic. E was really good though, at least for this passage; I'd be curious to hear it at F or FF across the instrument's range.
lol I was totally wrong
Well.... nail it on V12 and Legere European, but I’m disappointed on the Silverstein Blue I expected better sound based on previous video, for me V12 has a very warm sound its so far my favorite reed.
I think ultimately the extra resistance from my A clarinet made the reed a little less friendly for this test. I agree that it sounded better on my Bb clarinet excerpts!
A couple of comment: first of all, one should choose a mouthpiece and ligature that suits the syntethic reed not vice versa! In my experience, a mouthpiece that works with a cane reed doesn't necessarily work with a syntethic reed because the wild variety of partials in cane sound usually need a mouthpiece that somewhat filters them. So many cane reeds are discarded because The sound is too bright. Same thing with the ligature, f.ex. i don't like silverstein you seem to use with a syntethic reed because it dampens the upper partials. The syntethic reed is a thing you have to get used to. I have used them for several years because they are more similar to each other and don't change while playing. And last so much longer. Usually new colleaques i meet don't even notice that i am using a syntethic reed and when i tell them they are very surprised.
Hey Jarmo, thanks for watching! I think you would better enjoy the Legere vs. Silverstein video I did that goes into much greater detail about what I thought of each reed and some of the road blocks of testing reeds this way. I.E. some of these plastic reeds would be much better suited on other mouthpieces. I too have used synthetic reeds off and on for many years (starting on the original classic and signature Legeres, when those were the reeds to play!) And I agree, I don’t think I have ever had a colleague notice. In the end, I think I am just lucky, I don’t seem to have the same problems with cane that other people do and never really found it necessary to switch completely. I totally understand the appeal for others though!
I thought the cane reed was the second, and I was right!
I can hear a much full, dark and free sound, with a better articulatuon.
Do you find that that the Legere Signature clarinet reeds require significantly more embouchure effort when the blowing resistance is more or less the same as a cane reed such as Vandoren? I do for clarinet. Not so much with alto sax, for me anyway.
B ... and E
B responded best , easiest articulation.
Thanks for the test.
Happy to make it!
I never have liked Legere reeds for sound, possibly never will.
Silverstein is really close to the sound of the V12 but it's not quite there in all registers.
My ranking based on this comparison sound test:
Vandoren V12 - best sounding all categories
Silverstein Vivace - best sounding synthetic reed upper register
Silverstein Primo - best sounding synthetic reed lower register
Silverstein Blue - sounds like a legere
Legere Soprano Saxophone Signature Cut - sounds like a legere
Legere European Signature Clarinet Cut - sounds like a legere
This is a solid analysis, the Legere’s really do have a very distinctive sound. I think the Blue sounds a little different, but I definitely hear the similarities you’re picking up on. I’m a little sad I didn’t get to do this test blind myself, I think there’s a couple reeds in there that will trip people up!
Interestingly enough, I liked the Silverstein Primo best, even more so than V12!
PS In my own experience the Legere Sop. Sax Signature runs 1/4 harder than the Euro and 1/2 harder than V12s, so I wonder if a Strength 3 would've been a fairer comparison against the other reeds? Otherwise pretty insightful video!
Ya, getting the strengths right on legere reeds is tricky! I may be misremembering, but I think during this video I felt the Soprano Sax strength was about right. However, the Euro was definitely too soft, either that, or it was a dud.
For me it was a tossup between B and E.
Thanks for watching and commenting!
B and D
B was cane reed.
I thought the cane reed was reed E, cuz it’s not as piercing as the others, and is able to play softer
Once again, a professional musician is playing different equipment for sound comparison. People like me are not searching youtube for the sound, we are trying to learn an instrument and searching for the accessories that best suit our learning journey. If one of those reeds was super easy and smooth to play, suitable for a beginner, or more difficult but with a better sound, suitable for an intermediate or advanced student, then that information would be much more helpful. I'm sure you could make a tree trunk sound beautiful, but for most of us, it is still a tree trunk. Not meaning to criticise, just maybe you could target students with future information you find helpful. Thanks.
Hi Robyn, I would invite you to check out my video “Silverstein vs Legere: Battle of the Synthetic Reeds” (it’s linked in the description of this video) if you are interested in an in-depth discussion and review of the individual reeds and how I found that each individual reed played, as well as what kind of setup they might be suited to. That is my primary video for these products, this video was made just for “fun.”
@@ParkHouseCreations Ok, thanks.
No Problem! Let me know if it’s more what you had in mind!