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Reeds Beginner reed question for a Hite Premiere

TimC

Senior Member
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Hi!

I'm a very new beginner at playing the sax, bought a Jupiter 769 when I was on a trip in Asia (for about £500 new in shop which I thought was quite the bargain!). I've been playing about daily for an hour or so each day for the last 2 months and never been quite happy with how the Jupiter 4C mouthpiece felt. So after reading about worthwhile cheaper mouthpieces I got a Hite Premiere with a Rovner dark ligature. I'm really enjoying the improved comfort and the sound more now with the Hite and the lower notes are a lot easier to hit than before, but I've also discovered I get winded easier. Right now I'm using Vandoren 2,5 reeds, which I went to from Rico Royal 2,5 that I never really liked. So I guess it would make sense to look for reeds maybe 0,5 softer than the Vandoren 2,5? I recently read about Hemke which are supposedly quite playable out of the box, could Hemke 2,0 be a good choice? And how might that affect the sound compared to the Vandorens I use now? Any other suggestions are most welcome, also been thinking about Fibracell or Legere since having a reed that behaves consistently from one day to the next for a longer period of time would at least remove one factor to worry about when trying to develop my embouchure.
 
Hi Tim, and welcome. there's lots of very helpful people round these parts and ive learnt so much from so many good people who are willing to share there knowledge.

im a little ahead of you (time wise) at least as I first picked up a sax 5-6 months ago and its changed my life, each day is planed around my practice time and ive not missed a days practice since I first started and thats not easy with 2 young children and shift work!

anyway, im no authority but have continually suffered consistency issues with reeds.
I started on Rico Royal e N02 but foound every one was different each day.
a very kind member of this forum sent me some sample Marco jazz N02 (which convert to Rico 2.75) and they have been consistent and play much better for me.

however im now exploring synthetic reeds and am contemplating purchasing a Legere signiture (but at this point am unsure as to what strength).

I think the running out of wind is normal and has certainly taken me time to build up, at 2 months I couldn't play for long and was advised by my tutor to practice less, which actually worked.

I started on a Yamaha 4c m/piece and around 2 months ago moved upto the Yanagisawa N06 that came with my tenor and I now have no problems playing for an hour or two, I can also play the Yanagisawa N05 metal piece I purchsed without problems. never tried longer simply down to running out of time.

Good luck Tim.
 
Vandoren Traditionals are a bit stronger than the Rico you were using so a step down would be a good idea.

Jim.
 
Welcome.

I moved from a Yamaha 4c to Hite Premiere a while back and like the sound of this mouth piece.

As I understand a wider mouth piece tip opening means you need a little more air, which may be effecting you. To compensate for this you can move to a softer reed.

In my case, the 4c has tip opening of .063 and hite .069. I was using Rico Royal 2.5 at the time and did find for a short while it was a little harder to blow. However it didn't take long to adjust to it. I did moved to Rico Jazz Select 2m which I now prefer and my next box of reeds maybe 2h.

Being new to the saxophone you may what to try a slightly softer reed, but you could hold off a couple of weeks, before getting some new reeds. Like running, it does take time to build up your saxophone strength and endurance.

Here is some information I found on the mouth piece, you may find useful.

PREMIERE by HITE alto saxophone mouthpiece
Facing: Medium length, .069" tip (comparable to a C** facing)

PREMIERE by HITE tenor saxophone mouthpiece
Facing: Medium length, .090" tip

Premiere by Hite saxophone mouthpieces The efficiency of the facing design and the accuracy of the finishing make PREMIERE alto and tenor saxophone mouthpieces ideal all around mouthpieces. They are extremely versatile, capable of producing a variety of tonal colours for a variety of musical styles. Each model is produced with one preferred facing.

Medium or medium hard reeds cut with a strong center and thinner sides (such as the Rico Jazz Select, LaVoz or Vandoren Java) work well with the overall mouthpiece and facing design.
 
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Hi there!

Here is one of the best reed strength charts: http://www.saxophon-service.de/shop/z_57.htm . A Vandoren Traditional 2.5 is about the same as an ordinary 3 strength reed which I would find a little hard, personally (never play more than a 2.5 strength.

It may be an idea just to break a reed in - rather than play "straight out of the box": http://www.superial.com/mainten_breakin.html
As you are very new to sax the challenge will be to develop your embouchure which takes a time. Do go softer with your reeds - a 2 strength ordinary reed might be better - nothing to be gained if you are in any way getting winded. Both the reeds you mention are French cut reeds (as are Hemke) and ideal for shorter facing mouthpieces. A Jazz/American cut reed would be more suited to a medium length facing - better shape, such as a Rico Jazz Select 2S or 2M or Marca Jazz 2.

But just go softer with reed strength.
Kind regards
Tom
 
Thanks for all the useful info, I'll buy a few each of Javas and Rico Jazz Select around strength 2 and see how it feels/sounds. Is there a good synthetic that would emulate American cut reeds well and works well for a beginner? It would be nice to not worry about reed consistencies as a beginner because there's already so much else that can go wrong!
 
I've just been trying Forestone alto and tenor reeds. They are very good (I'm not a pro synthetic man!) and a 2.5 should be fine (feels more like a 2 - 2.25 strength). They are £18 at Howarth of London and have a very good tone - worth trying. I have one out on loan which you could have a free try of if you like - let me know and the current user might be able to post it on to you in the next week or so.

Kind regards
Tom
 
I've just been trying Forestone alto and tenor reeds. They are very good (I'm not a pro synthetic man!) and a 2.5 should be fine (feels more like a 2 - 2.25 strength). They are £18 at Howarth of London and have a very good tone - worth trying. I have one out on loan which you could have a free try of if you like - let me know and the current user might be able to post it on to you in the next week or so.

Kind regards
Tom

Just read a bit about the Forestone reeds, sounds interesting! How is the durability on these, have you used it for long? I live in Sweden so I'm not sure whether it works for the person who has it now to send it here. But nevertheless thanks for the offer!
 
The cost of postage to Sweden is about £2.30 from UK - nothing's Impossible. In UK postage is about £2.20. Let me know. The reed that I have is virtually brand new and should last at least a year or so. So do many of my cane reeds, however!
 
That would be great to try it out before buying! Also, how should I wash it? Should I PM you the address?
 
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