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Saxophone beginners Changing to harder reed

I am amazed at the difference in strength between, not only reeds that are all supposed to be 2's , but also between 2's that are the same. e.g. I have tried two Java reds, one was great just the right amount of resistance. The other is so soft that even I find it too soft but a 21/2 V16 is unplayable for me.
 
Fortyniner said:
I am amazed at the difference in strength between, not only reeds that are all supposed to be 2's , but also between 2's that are the same. e.g. I have tried two Java reds, one was great just the right amount of resistance. The other is so soft that even I find it too soft but a 21/2 V16 is unplayable for me.
Click to expand...

Numbers can be misleading... 2s are between 1.75 and 2.25 when measured out of the production line. It's not an exact science. Also, I guess it's only a measure of the reed's resistance, is if it's unbalanced, what is it really?

Each brand and model is different. Then mother nature plays it's role too.

I have many boxes of reeds but I'm now increasingly inclined to play synthetic.
 
Hi, I'm thinking of getting a pack of 5 Bravo alto sax reeds from Amazon. The music shops here don't sell synthetic reeds. Please, does anyone have any experience with these? They are about 1/6th the price of l`egere reeds . You get 5 for £21.29. The reviews on Amazon are good. I don't know what strength to get, but probably 2's.
 
Fortyniner said:
Hi, I'm thinking of getting a pack of 5 Bravo alto sax reeds from Amazon.
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I've never heard of Bravo. And I don't find the price so attractive! Légères are much more expensive but being synthetic they last much longer. Now, the thing with Légère is that you need to know what strength you need and it's not necessarily straight forward. I didn't try them on alto yet, so I don't know how they compare to the usual brands. On tenor, I found them a bit harder than my cane ones.

Have you looked at Alexander reeds? I played Superial and Superial DC that were fine and not expensive.
 
The Bravo reeds are synthetics. The reviews are some good, some not so good but that's the case with them all. The Legere info says they are polypropylene, Well that's the stuff milk containers are made of so it's nothing special. I talked to the guy at Just Flutes who sell them both, he didn't know much about the Bravos but said they sell a lot of the Legere reeds. He suggested the Classic would be ok for a beginner.
 
Not played these. Give them a go and let us know how you get on. I switched to Legere Signature a few Months back and I'm happy with them. Play well, ready to go when I want them etc. Haven't tried the standard Legere, though I hear they are a bit different to the Signature.
 
I bought a range of Légère reeds last year, from 2 to 3 1/2. Only the 2 is without the mention "Signature". I should try to find the difference to me, but I haven't used to the 2 much and frankly, the others not much more. It's been a while, I should get back into them and figure it out 🙂 I will say that if memory serves, the 2 1/4 plays more like a 2 1/2 cane reed.
 
Fortyniner said:
The Bravo reeds are synthetics. The reviews are some good, some not so good but that's the case with them all. The Legere info says they are polypropylene, Well that's the stuff milk containers are made of so it's nothing special. I talked to the guy at Just Flutes who sell them both, he didn't know much about the Bravos but said they sell a lot of the Legere reeds. He suggested the Classic would be ok for a beginner.
Click to expand...

Sorry, I missed that. Selling synthetic reeds by 5 sounds strange. Légère are sold by the unit. Now, I guess going classic is not a bad advice to the started. See if you like the feel of a synthetic reed. It's slightly different. Then if the strength isn't right it will feel even worse...

I looked up Bravo reeds but they are still very new and almost unavailable in the french market. Amazon France only has 1.5! And nothing else but alto. So it's a bit short...
 
I can only repeat my first post. If this doesn't work for you, then perhaps you need to look into the dark art of reed adjustment: clipping 'softer' reeds to give them a bit more body/resistance and sanding/scraping specific areas of other reeds to adjust their tone and playability. It's been years since I've done either. Adjusting the reed/mpc position usually works fine. But if a reed is otherwise unplayable, you just might be able to salvage it.

My local store has a wide range of Légère reeds than you can just try out without any obligation to buy. Might be worth finding out whether stores in your area offer similar opportunities.


Fortyniner said:
I am amazed at the difference in strength between, not only reeds that are all supposed to be 2's , but also between 2's that are the same. e.g. I have tried two Java reds, one was great just the right amount of resistance. The other is so soft that even I find it too soft but a 21/2 V16 is unplayable for me.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Thank you, that video is really helping. It shows how far the mouthpiece has to be in your mouth. Other embouchure videos have said that the top lip should be where the reed meets the mouthpiece. This video says the top teeth should be at that point. That makes a huge difference. I now can get the top octave notes much clearer and more easily and all the notes are louder, I guess breath control [ which is also emphasised] is what I need to develop to play softer. Anyway , thanks, there's a lot of good stuff in it.
 
Fortyniner said:
Thank you, that video is really helping. It shows how far the mouthpiece has to be in your mouth.
Click to expand...

Actually it doesn't, it shows how far it can be in your mouth. For me it works with way less than that.

However what works for you is good, so if it helps with that amount, then maybe it is not a bad thing.
 
A useful tool for those spare 10 minutes here and there, mentioned elsewhere in the forum, is the FunctionalEarTraining App for a phone or pad.
One of the best disciplines to build in to playing is keeping the fingertips on the keys.
 
I saw Java mentioned here somewhere. What is the difference between Vandoren "blue" and Java, someone, please?
I could search the web, but the answer from people here who use one or the other would be more valuable to me.
 
6441 said:
I saw Java mentioned here somewhere. What is the difference between Vandoren "blue" and Java, someone, please?
I could search the web, but the answer from people here who use one or the other would be more valuable to me.
Click to expand...
The Vandoren Java (JAzz VAriety) have a thinner tip, IIRC, than Blue Box, which are generally thought of as a Classical reed. The strength numbers don't correlate either.

The Red box Java's are closer to ZZ's in style than they are their Green box sibling. It's feasible to use blue box to lay a floor with!
 
Thanks @JazzMatt - I have a box of ZZ, 2 1/2 but haven't touched them in a while. Maybe I should? Never had Java, but I have a tenor one from when I tried a sax in a store.
 
6441 said:
Thanks @JazzMatt - I have a box of ZZ, 2 1/2 but haven't touched them in a while. Maybe I should? Never had Java, but I have a tenor one from when I tried a sax in a store.
Click to expand...
I quite liked ZZ's, probably 1/4 strength lower than a Rico reed, so a 2 1/2 would be a 2 1/4. I preferred the ZZ to Java as they seem to have a bit more warmth to them.

I made the mistake, once, of trying a Blue Box in my 'normal' strength and nearly blew my lungs out of my derriere! 😳

Although i've now converted to Gonzalez Reeds on my Tenor - 1.5 strength (they're quite a stiff reed) with an 8* Aizen LS mouthpiece.
 

Similar threads... or are they? Maybe not but they could be worth reading anyway 😀

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