So ... Are the Vandoren MPs the 13 series? My BD5s in 440 and 442 play vastly differently. The consistency of the Legere for the same strength is not that good, but I like the other attributes. If you can find a 5RV or a Yamaha 4CM, they work well. Seems to be medium long facings with a 1.02-1.05 tip is a good start. Tom NLR AR
O, that's a great question! I don't remember for sure, but I believe the were 13 series. That would be really interesting to compare the 13 series vs. not 13 series. I totally agree with everything else you said!
I know I should practice with a metronome, clap the rhythm , etc, but I “forget” it every time as it never works, and it is so much fun just learning the melody. When listening to my recording, I hear the rhythm “floating”, but still I don’t do anything about it. What should I do “remember” it when practicing?
Thank you, I have been playing 3 weeks and found several mistakes that I have been making ie ligature too tight, pressing the keys too tight, and not rotating reeds. Thx again.
Oh thank you !!! I love your positive concepts - "sharing more of yourself and your music/creativity" ... This will help me playing in church with my brother tomorrow! ❤🎉
There is an old TV show called M*A*S*H. There was an episode where one of the surgeons had operated on the right hand of a professional pianist, who ended up losing the ability to use that hand. The surgeon wheeled him into a room with a piano and gave him music specifically for the left hand and gave him a little peptalk. He told him that he had a gift that the surgeon didn’t. The surgeon said I can play the notes, but I can’t make the music. You reminded me of that.
Great video, Josh! I bought a European Cut 3.75 in Dublin, which played beautifully then got really soft very fast. I tried bumping up to a 4.00, but this particular one felt on the harder side, so I softened it a bit, which ended up a little closer to what I like. I would love to get a "true" 3.75 each time, but like you say, it's a crap shoot.
Wanted also to ask...do you have a procedure for moving a reed around on the mouthpiece to alter its playing characteristics? Perhaps drifting it off to one side slightly, moving it higher or lower to change the gap at the MP beak, etc etc? Maybe these changes are more critical with synthetic reeds.
A little bit. I have heard (and experienced) that the placement can be really finicky with the European cut, but have found the French cut to behave more similarly to a cane reed and be a bit more forgiving in this regard. The general rule is if you move the reed up it gets stiffer and if you move it down it gets softer, which I have found to generally be true with the French cut reeds. Moving side to side would affect the balance of the reed. In general I wouldn't recommend this for a synthetic reed since they are generally quite well balanced. However, if you know how to test reed balance you can give it a try!
My main takeaway from your video is that synthetic reeds have all the troubling uncertainty and variability of cane reeds...but they last longer! If I had unlimited $s and time, I would try lots of them from different brands and in different strengths, in combination with lots of different mouthpieces...and maybe find a winning combo? But otherwise, synthetic reeds seem to be a risky, expensive gamble, no better than cane reeds. I wish I had a good plan for exploring them more thoroughly!
That is a great summary! The one other big benefit is that they don't dry out and work better in cold or outdoor environments. I am really grateful that I have been able to try lots of strengths and different mouthpieces to find some great options. One way you could get a similar experience to that would be at a local clarinet day or the annual ClarinetFest where they have tons of mouthpieces and reeds to try.
Checking the price of fantastic Plastic in the USA, it is less than half that in Australia and then a legere signature costing over $200, All for Just One reed !!! for that price I would expect perfection and infinite livability sadly that does not seem the case and I have had friends say they do break down in less than six months. so at this stage, I dont think the value is there .
Definitely don't pay $200 for any reed! That is wild! I have a student who has ordered Legere reeds from AliExpress and actually had success with them being authentic and much more affordable. Definitely go for that at your own risk, but also if you are content with your current setup then don't fix what isn't broken.
Thanks for creating such a valuable video, Josh! It strikes me that there is still too much non-value added hocus-pocus when it comes to reeds and mouthpieces, both. The lack of consistency is much more apparent with cane, as opposed to synthetic reeds, as you pointed out. It seems likely that a more highly reliable synthetic reed manufacturing process will evolve sooner than an improvement over Mother Nature in the fabrication of cane reeds. If so, cane reed production will soon be a thing of the past. May we live long enough to see standardized measures of mouthpiece performance across the multiplicity of manufacturers, too. Meanwhile, (at least some) artistic folks will continue to swim in a sea of ambiguity.
Yes, it does seem like things should be easier to standardize and control. But on the other there is so much variability within our anatomy from player to player and even within the same person from day to day that I imagine the ambiguity will never truly be solved. I do think synthetic reeds will likely overtake cane reeds within the next 10-20 years though!
Thanks Josh, hearing your observation of slightly thinner right side of reed for the 3.75s that you like ... Can you turn a 3.75H into a reed that you like by removing a little thickness (sanding/scraping) on that side? Intrigued to know if you've tried working on them.
I haven't tried working on them, and am a little nervous to mess up a $30 reed, but I might experiment with it a bit! I did try moving the reed off to the side a tiny bit, which should create the response of one side being softer, but that didn't really seem to help.
I think I’ll stick with my natural reeds for now. I am still trying to master embouchure, air support, articulation. I’ll play with different types of reeds when I feel like I have solid control of those three factors.
I think that is a great plan! It is helpful to have a good understanding of how playing a bunch of cane reeds feels before branching out to figuring out which synthetic will work for you.
That was particularly difficult for me on other brands as well, and has even been a bit of a struggle on Legere at times when going for the very high super altissimo notes. I do find on all brands though when you have the right strength at least up to altissimo E is quite smooth and responsive.
Thanks for catching that! Yes everything up until the dotted quarter notes in 6/8 at 4:30 are all quarter notes and there are no 1/8 notes until 5:34 when talking about 3/8 time signature.
I do! If you want help with just one specific piece, a Strategy Session might be better for you. You can learn more about that, lessons, and everything I have available at www.quickstartclarinet.com/shop
so i have been playing a reed with a strength of 3 since i was in 6th grade to around beginning of 8th grade, which i made honor band in 8th grade. i decided to take private lessons and my teacher said i should use 3.5, but it feels too stiff and airy. however, my upper notes have been feeling a lot easier to play, but the lower register feels more airy and almost muffled should i switch back to 3?
That's the trade off with a harder reed. The high notes get better, but the low notes can get stuffy. Reed strength depends a lot on the mouthpiece, so without knowing that and hearing you I can't say for sure that the 3 would be better to go back to. However, you can probably trust your teachers recommendation, and it will be best to get more comfortable with the 3.5. My suggestions for that are to try like all of the reeds in the box of 3.5s and find the ones that feel the most comfortable. Then on those really work on finding the embouchure and air support you need to clear up the low notes. Once you get used to (and when you find just the right strength) there will be a nice balance of stability on the high notes and responsiveness on the low notes. I hope that helps!
I played on a Jim Kanter mouthpiece for decades (like several) and still think it's a fantastic mouthpiece. I switched to the Elite a couple years ago as it seemed to me to be everything my Kanter was but with just a little more everything. Their motto is life without limits and their mouthpieces are definitely the closest I've ever played to life without limits. So repsponsive and yet still controlled just fantastic!
I was wondering if you made a final decision. I play a Kanter Standard model. I’ve played the elite before. I loved its ease of playing but was too bright in sound for me. I’ve heard Jose Garenro of the SFO play on the Cinema. He usually plays the B40 Lyre. He has a beautiful tone. On the Cinema, I thought his sound was less full and brighter. It sounded easy to play but it seemed to lose something tone wise. Would love to hear your impressions on that.
That makes sense to me! I agree completely about the brightness of the Elite. The Cinema and B40 Lyre are pretty significantly different tip openings with the B40 being much more open. I would find the Cinema to definitely be a little brighter, but also having a bit more projection and flexibility, while the B40 gives a little more depth and stability.
Very nice review. ✅ I like the Cinema a LOT! The Elites allow me to project in an orchestra but don’t have the finesse I’m quite looking for. I’ll have to revisit the SAV. It was a bit unclear in the lower register.
Thanks! My initial thoughts on the SAV were that it was a little bit hollow and I had a hard time finding the core, but as I explored it more it really started to have a nice ring and flexibility for me.
Please help me: I touch with tip of my tounge to tip of the reed. All good but somehow I always make sound…. You can almost hear I say Tah (I don’t say tah but it sounds like it). And I can’t make it sound soft so that you don’t hear nearly TAH between each notes. :-/
This is a very common articulation issue. Most likely what is happening is that you are either touching the reed to firmly and kind of pushing off of it, your reed is too soft, or (most likely) you don't have the air well in position. What generally causes this problem is when the sound stops the air also backs off, then instead of hearing the note immediately we hear the tongue push off the reed then the sound starts. We must train ourselves to keep the air steady and in position while the tongue moves independently to dampen the reed vibrations. This video may be helpful for you: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-iJPDl0MqlzU.htmlsi=HHIef1_g3J0gN0lt
@@QuickStartClarinet Thank you so much for taking your time and reply! I will try to find out which one is my problem but I am afraid it might be all lol. Thank you so much!!!!
I have this stand and it is super super cool.. No negative points for me. It does the job in different way but does job perfectly and firmly with various possibilities. It is creative new out of box thinking. It is stylish professional product.
I have been playing sax and clarinet for 30 years and still use only 1,5 reeds with a 4C... anything over two is just too stiff to make any sound.. what should I do??
Wow that is a really soft reed for that mouthpiece and very interesting that anything harder doesn't work! If you are happy with how your current set up is working for you then you certainly can stick with it. I would imagine if anything harder isn't working for you it is because you are using far too little and firm embouchure pressure. Playing on such a soft set up has probably trained you to be very open and gentle with your embouchure to let the reed vibrate. If you want to switch to a harder reed, work on flattening your chin to firm up your bottom lip and then squeeze a little bit more strongly on the reed and mouthpiece to bring it into position to vibrate. I hope that helps!
Vocalise R is very closed, I loved the articulation but it's hard to put air through. Now playing a Shifrin which is MAGIC with synthetic reeds. Getting a McGill and Hawkins this week and look forward to trying them.
Thanks for your very interesting video. As a longtime (off and on) saxophone player, I am continually amazed at how the Albert and German system clarinets are usually treated as a footnote in musical history. When I decided to learn the clarinet, I purchased both an intermediate Böhm system clarinet and a cheap German system clarinet. I quickly dropped the Böhm clarinet, because compared to German system clarinets, it was literally weighed down by a spongy, slow to respond key mechanism. In the clarinet discussions about which system is superior, the timbre of the German system clarinet is often emphasized as superior, which may be the case, but for me it is the responsiveness of the German system key mechanics that is why I stick with the German system.
The German system definitely makes more sense coming from the saxophone! And honestly it might be better overall. That would be something interesting to explore for a video since I have never tried German system clarinets before.
Hi, Josh. Do you know where I can find some kind of reference for alternative fingerings in the altissimo? I've only been playing for 18 months and I get to G most of the time but I'd like to explore the options. BTW, I love that you used the adagio from the 622 in the video. It may be the most heart breaking piece of music I know. I can't count the number of times I've closed my eyes listening to this masterpiece. Thanks for all of your efforts.. I love your channel.
I'm glad that you enjoy the channel! There is a fantastic resource for altissimo fingerings. Here is a link: www.wfg.woodwind.org/clarinet/cl_alt_3.html Good luck, and let me know if you have any questions!
The try you gave at 8:54. I still hear the air together with the note. I am having huge struggle with that and not really sure if it's me or the instrument. What's the best way to test it? get to a repair shop or hire a teacher for a class or two? I'm just trying to sort it out myself but I'm not successful with it so far with what's available online.
It is alright to hear a little bit of air, but if it is a bothersome amount and you feel like you are doing as much as you can to eliminate it here is what I would try: 1. Explore lots of reeds. Even different strengths and brands within reason. If some reeds even get you really close to what you want then it is probably a matter of finding good reeds and working on your playing. 2. Take it to a good repair person. They will definitely be able to at least make sure it isn't an instrument problem. 3. Find a teacher. A good teacher will be able to help you learn how to minimize the airiness as well as diagnose any reed or equipment issues. This step will probably take the most work, but also will be the most valuable. I hope that helps!
I actually have never tried specifically the Yamaha 650, but I really like Yamaha's and typically recommend the 255 for students. I think the Alpha Plus is actually probably more akin to a 450 or even somewhere between the 255 and 450. The Alpha Plus kind of fits the niche of high quality and wooden instrument that is still for students, whereas the Yamaha 650 is more of a introduction to professional level instruments.
