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I had to order new reeds, and decided to also include some synthetic reeds in my order,
so here are the results from the juri:
Vandoren blue 3 (box of 5):
All reeds are different, 1 is very good, 1 is almost unplayable, and the rest is in between but playable.
They all sound different and have different resistance to blow
Reed response is different throughout the range of the horn, What I mean by this is that on some notes,
the reed tends to vibrate more than on others, and that on some notes I really need to dampen the
resonance with my lips more to avoid sounding harsh.
Also the note that has this uncontrolled resonance changes with every reed, so it really seems to depend
on the reeds and not on the instrument or on my embouchure.
Legere 3:
This is my second legere reed, and it plays exactly the same as the one before that lasted for 8 months.
It can almost compete with the best of the Vandoren box, and it is better than the 4 others in the Vandoren box.
Reed respons is OK and consistent throughout the range of the horn.
Definitly the winner for me
I'll use this one to play the things I like best (jazz, blues, balads)
Forestone 4:
Nice tone, but less dynamic range, almost impossible to get a high sound volume (fff) out of them.
As I never played forestones before, I don't know if these reeds need some time to loosen up or not,
so with time this may improve as the reed gets more playing time.
Low tones can be started very easily, a bit more efford is needed for high notes.
I think I'll use this one to play in the concert band, as it is the easiest to play low stacato notes,
and in a classic concert band setting, you need to play lots of them on a bariton sax.
Reed strenght of this Forestone 4 seems just a tad lower than Vandoren 3 and Legere 3,
and that may explain why lower notes and staccato is more easy.
Conclusion: no more cane reeds for me.
Synthetics are more consistant, I like the sound and you can just slap on a reed and start playing.
In the past I tried other synthetic reeds, but they sounded way to bright for me,
but Forestone and Legere both give me a nice dark sound and on top of that, I can have the Legere reed
sound bright as well if I need to.
As sound is a very personal thing, other people will probably feel very different about this,
so you will need to find out yourself if you like these reeds or not,
I thought I'just share my findings about this.
so here are the results from the juri:
Vandoren blue 3 (box of 5):
All reeds are different, 1 is very good, 1 is almost unplayable, and the rest is in between but playable.
They all sound different and have different resistance to blow
Reed response is different throughout the range of the horn, What I mean by this is that on some notes,
the reed tends to vibrate more than on others, and that on some notes I really need to dampen the
resonance with my lips more to avoid sounding harsh.
Also the note that has this uncontrolled resonance changes with every reed, so it really seems to depend
on the reeds and not on the instrument or on my embouchure.
Legere 3:
This is my second legere reed, and it plays exactly the same as the one before that lasted for 8 months.
It can almost compete with the best of the Vandoren box, and it is better than the 4 others in the Vandoren box.
Reed respons is OK and consistent throughout the range of the horn.
Definitly the winner for me
I'll use this one to play the things I like best (jazz, blues, balads)
Forestone 4:
Nice tone, but less dynamic range, almost impossible to get a high sound volume (fff) out of them.
As I never played forestones before, I don't know if these reeds need some time to loosen up or not,
so with time this may improve as the reed gets more playing time.
Low tones can be started very easily, a bit more efford is needed for high notes.
I think I'll use this one to play in the concert band, as it is the easiest to play low stacato notes,
and in a classic concert band setting, you need to play lots of them on a bariton sax.
Reed strenght of this Forestone 4 seems just a tad lower than Vandoren 3 and Legere 3,
and that may explain why lower notes and staccato is more easy.
Conclusion: no more cane reeds for me.
Synthetics are more consistant, I like the sound and you can just slap on a reed and start playing.
In the past I tried other synthetic reeds, but they sounded way to bright for me,
but Forestone and Legere both give me a nice dark sound and on top of that, I can have the Legere reed
sound bright as well if I need to.
As sound is a very personal thing, other people will probably feel very different about this,
so you will need to find out yourself if you like these reeds or not,
I thought I'just share my findings about this.
