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personally, i hate vandoren. they feel "fake" to me. i played on a synthetic bass clarinet reed during ninth grade...and it was decent, but it wasn't the best quality.(my mom wouldn't buy me any other reeds, because i kept breaking them.) vandoren reeds feel just like that synthetic reed i used. they also sound stuffy, to me.

i've been playing for 6 years, i've never been anything but first chair(even as a sophomore, which is the first grade that you attend the actual high school, i was first chair over the juniors and seniors). i play on a gigliotti 3 mouthpiece, with my vito reso-tone clarinet. i have yet to find a wooden clarinet that i can afford that sounds as good, plays as easily, and stays in tune as well as this plastic clarinet. (that being said, i hate my brother's reso-tone. it's stuffy and is hard to keep in tune).

i lied earlier(oops) i played second chair in the SUU honor band, likely because i was using a plastic clarinet. but by the end of the honor band, i could play the parts better than either of the other two first clarinetists. when they had to take the music down an octave because of shrill tone and unsure fingerings, the directors let me keep it up. the honor band encompassed 3-ish states if i remember...Utah, Nevada, and Arizona.

i hope that answers your question. i don't mean to come off as "bragging" it just seems as if you were asking my credentials. of course, i'm no where near proffesional, but it's not like i don't know what i'm talking about.

just because something is MEANT for one thing, doesn't mean it can't be USED for something else. vinegar would probably work though..you just need something mildly acidic.

I hate the fact that wooden clarinets are so expensive... but thats what you get if you want good quality. *sigh*
as for vandoren reeds, once you know how they work, you cant switch. mitchell lurie reeds make my tone very shrill and annoying, so its more preference and playing style to determine what reed you use. though, mitchell lurie reeds are definitely one of the better brands (compared to rico, lol everything is better) i still like vandorens better for me.
i wasnt accusing you of anything, i was just asking a question about your playing experience is all. and thats very cool that youve been playing for so long. just dont lose your love for the instrument, it happens more often than one would suspect.
for me, i havent been playing for 6 years, but its going on 4 now... first chair in the highest band and im only a sophmore... i was never in the lowest band... im too busy to do honors band... ive actually been playing for a year less than all the other clarinets in my grade... ummmm, AA rank solos are thrown at me a lot... like hedwigs theme from harry potter!... its legitimately straight sixteenth notes and theyre all basically played as fast as possible because its OF COURSE counted in one... XD but yeah... thats really all i can think of... haha, what about other people? id like to hear your stories as well?

LONG POST:

part of what determines what reeds you use is also what mouthpiece you're using. when i was using my Vandoren B45, obviously vandoren reeds were the best choice. now that i'm using my new mouthpiece though, i get a really deep, rich tone from mitchell luries.
for my alto, i actually love the Rico Jazz Select. they're one of the only reeds that will let me play my favorite mouthpiece. a vintage-ish claude lakey 6*. every other "reputable" brand i've tried made me squeek when i tried to play a D or E on the staff, and if i tried to jump from one register to the next. maybe it's the fact that the reeds are a "inferior" cut that gives them an odd enough shape for me to use. i've also been complimented on the tone i get on my alto. a particular person has come up to me multiple times to tell me that he's glad there's a few alto players who don't sound screechy. (he attends two schools because of scheduling conflict with his college classes, so he's in my concert band, but in the other school's jazz band. he mentioned that i don't sound as harsh as the lead alto in his jazz band...that just made me happy, because i seem to have an indescribable...dislike for that alto player.)

i don't plan on losing my love for music...i actually plan to major in either music performance or music education at college. it all depends on what i decide i like more...right now, performance seems more realistic..i'm horrible at describing things, i tend to make explanations longer than they ever should be(like this one) so i end up confusing/losing people by the time i'm done.

as for difficult music, for some odd reason, i don't really like a lot of music that's already written(at least that i have available to me) so a lot of times i'll write my own music. i performed a piece that i wrote at the region festival..i got a 1- most likely because it was a trumpet/clarinet duet...kind of unorthodox and hard to blend. after region, we put a straight mute in the trumpet and it sounds much better. for that particular song, i won the composition competition in the performing arts festival(different than region...no composition contest in region sad )

if only my band directer knew as much about clarinet as u it would make life much easeir for me

different brands cut their reeds differently which will give them slightly different sound. also they use different stiffness measuring systems. for example, a 2 1/2 vandoren could be a size 3 rico (not exactly accurate, but it get's the point across.)

wow thts rly good i wish i could play like tht

Hello fellow clarinetists, i am in the 7th grade, and ofcourse i play the clarinet..i have a been playing for at least a year. and i have enjoyed it. i am in concert band and in jazz band, its awsome. the hardest thing about playing the clarinet for me is the high notes and rhythms. but i move past all of that and just have FUN!!