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| Rico or Vandoren |
| Rico |
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23% |
[ 4 ] |
| Vandoren |
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76% |
[ 13 ] |
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| Total Votes : 17 |
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 Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 7:56 am
Sorry, Kagetsukiko, but if reeds do not chip or anything before it's time, it actually does wear a little thin. An old band director assistant's wife came and told my group in band that if you take a reed and hold it up to the light, look at the heart of the wood, and see if light shines through it, it is definitely time to change reeds. It will wear and thin. I'm not sure about the saliva argument, but I will not bother in it, though saliva does make everything wither. To stall the 'deterioration' process, you have to wipe your reed clean, anyway, and not leave it in the mouthpiece. You could also get mold that way. Black and green mold.
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Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 10:52 am
I'm not picky with my reeds, as long as they work very well, and don't break for a good time, I'm fine with it, but that's my opinion.
My band teacher actually had all the beginners in my 5th grade class start on 3's, I started on 3 &1/2 reed (my mom just bought some not really caring at the time about it), but seeing as you're just beginning yeah a 2 reed will work just fine.
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Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 2:38 pm
Kazi Drake Van doren, i switched from ricos i could tell the difference, as a trombone player which would you rather use cheap, crap slide oil, or exspensive, quality slide oil. haha i actually use slide grease and water it works a whole lot better than oil for me
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Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 3:17 pm
Okay, so reeds can be digested, but how in the world does the chemical make-up of saliva change how well you sound? Sure, it could determine how long a reed lasts but, in the short term, it does nothing. It doesn't really determine how good a reed is unless you're one of those people who can miraculously make a reed last for months.
....
Okay, is it just me or did I sound like a sore loser in that paragraph above sweatdrop ?
For reed hardness, don't harder reeds create better tone quality or something? I remember hearing that from the seniors my freshman year. That, and it's not a good idea to go down a level because it changes your tuning. On the other side, thinner reeds allow for more control to do some of the trickier professional stuff but I don't think you're going to need that in high school band.... Once again, this was a fact that I heard from someone else, namely an alumni.
Also there is a difference between different brands of reeds. They might use the same type of reed but where and how they grow the reed can be different. Additionally, how they select and make the reed is also different. Different formulas and processes are used. While there are a lot of uncontrollable factors, there are also a lot of factors that can be controlled. It's not like they randomly gather the materials and dump them all into a machine that uses some generic procedure that all brands share. No, they specifically gather the materials from certain areas and take random samples to determine which batches to dump into a machine that uses a procedure that is most likely different from company to company.
Although, I guess I do have to agree with you that it is up to the player to decide for themselves. However, calling us "opinionated twits" was somewhat uncalled for neutral . Especially since this thread asked us for our opinions.
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Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 4:28 pm
The longer you use a reed, the thinner it will get. Harder reeds DO effect sound quality. It creates, using saxophone perspective, a darker, deeper tone, which is awesome.
And I didn't like being called a 'twit,' either. Don't you know that that could actually hurt someone's feelings?
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Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 8:19 pm
who cares about feelings? in the grand scheme of things, would you rather understand something better than you did and have a slightly beaten down ego, or would you rather have the same understanding with too much ego to match that understanding.
like i was saying, different make-ups of saliva will react to the slightly different shapes of starch within the reeds. my point is that different cuts and slightly different 'brands' of reed fibers will work either better or worse with the saliva of a certain player. some reeds that are crap for me could be amazing for you. yes, the different cuts of reeds WILL react differently for different people. my whole point this whole time has been that different brands do things differently BECAUSE different people have different results with different shapes and thickness of reed.
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Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 8:21 pm
Hikari Myst The longer you use a reed, the thinner it will get. Harder reeds DO effect sound quality. It creates, using saxophone perspective, a darker, deeper tone, which is awesome. And I didn't like being called a 'twit,' either. Don't you know that that could actually hurt someone's feelings? it all depends on what you want. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XA_Jugejtoa lot of jazz players prefer a brighter tone to darker tone. Charlie Parker has a fairly bright tone, and you cannot deny that he is awesome. on the subject of Charlie Parker, he preferred to use Rico reeds. He would buy a size 5 and file it down so that it was more of a custom size.
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Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2011 1:55 pm
I started out on a Rico 2, but now I only use Vandoren 3s. Rico is best for beginners, but I think Vandoren is the better choice for more advanced players.
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Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 3:55 pm
The type I recommend is Rico Reserve Classic. I've tried out a million different reeds, and for me, they've been the most consistently well-made and great to play. I used to use Vandorens, but I switched to Rico because their consistency is terrible - half of the reeds in every box are terrible! I've heard from a lot of people that their band directors absolutely hate Rico in general, but I don't see why. I've never tried regular Rico's before, so the quality of them is probably a lot worse. If I were you, I wouldn't bother with the regular ones. Just go for the reserves. Don't be prejudiced against the Reserve reeds; in my opinion, they're much better than the Vandoren V12/Rue Lepic 56 reeds and they're the same price. I recommend you start on a size 3 reed. Sixth graders often start on 2.5's, but I assume you're older than that. Also, Rico sizes run slightly easier than Vandoren sizes, so a Rico 3.5+ is the equivalent of a Vandoren 3.5. P.S. I use this website for all of my reed purchases: http://1stopclarinet.stores.yahoo.net/bbclarreed.htmlTheir prices are a lot better than many local music stores and other websites.
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Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 6:37 pm
Size 2 is good for a beginner. Once you find that you're getting pretty okay with tone, you can probably start with a 2.5. I started immediately on a 3 and it was tough as heck.
I think for a beginner, you should go with Rico ONLY for the price. If you find that you aren't interested in playing clarinet as much as trombone, then you haven't sacrificed a serious part of your cash stash from buying a pack of Vandorens.
However, my band director (a trombone player himself) HIGHLY suggests that Vandorens be the #1 choice for the woodwinds. He even goes out to buy them for us.
After having played tenor sax and clarinet, I am going to back up Vandoren 100000%. I've played both, and there is a clear difference as to which will overall sound better.
So bottom line: If you REALLY want to learn and get good at playing clarinet, invest in a few Rico 2 and 2.5s first. Then once you start to improve and you can tell that playing on those is too easy, go to Vandoren 2.5 and possibly even 3s (after a good amount of time).
Good luck! I've never heard of a brass player switching to a woodwind instrument. So more power to you!
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Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 8:34 am
It's really all a personal preference.
In my opinion, since you're just learning, I'd say go for a Rico.
If I'm playing on a Rico, I prefer Rico Royal's.
Vandoren's are nice, but are harder to break in. They also take a lot more air support, which may make it a bad choice for a beginner since you're still learning the embouchure and etc.
Also, just because Rico's and Vandoren's are the most popular, don't forget to give other brands a chance. I know plenty of people who have had the most success out of other brands.
Good luck!
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