support Tutorials CDs PPT mouthpieces

Tone Reed strength and tone

Huh? Why would they cut a number three at the same thickness as a number two? I don’t understand
The cane is, or was. a living plant and the fibres vary throughout, it's not like a rock and breaking it up each part will have the same structure.
 
Gonna buy some “3’s” at my local music store, and see what I’m up against.

Don't buy too many! I'd go for 3 Max for now. I've been playing for about 6/7 years now and I don't use 3 on alto. Too hard for me. But there are so many variables... :rolleyes:

Was any brand/model suggested?

Let us know how it went with those.
 
My suggestion is that you get a couple of number 3 reeds because that is what the teacher told you to do, but that you get a couple of number 2 1/2 reeds as well, just in case.

And as said earlier, different manufacturers are not consistent about reed hardness. A Vandoren number 3 may be equivalent to a Rico number 3 1/2. So don't get Vandoren Blue Box reeds in strength 3 because they are typically a half strength harder than others.
 
No brand suggested, although Rico (D’Addario) would be my default (3 pack).

I noticed my Teacher had boxes of Vandoren Reeds on the table next to him.
 
As Nigel said, I'd avoid Vandoren blue. At least for now.
 
The reed strength and cut needs to match the facing on the mouthpiece. Narrow tip hard reed. Wide tip soft reed. American lay, american cut reed. French lay French cut reed. Hybrid lay personal preference.

Vandoren blue play very well on a French lay mouthpiece.

However, forget about all that for now. When you have some chops you can fine tune your sound. This saxophone thing is a journey that will take more than a lifetime. Nobody learns it all, so don't rush through trying to get to the end. There is no end. If you rush through, you'll miss some of the landmarks and have to go back and revisit them.

Listen to your teacher and practice every day. In a decade or two it will start to make sense.
 
Don’t listen to Colin the Bear, when he says “in a decade or two it will start to make sense.” He lies.
It will never make sense! :w00t:

Millions of people play golf and even enjoy it, myself included! How does that make sense? :confused2:

Just go ahead and don't worry about the meaning of life. If you have any concerns of that matter, just watch the Monty Python's movie and all will become crystal clear.
 
All Reeds are made from the same material, right?
No, some are made from cane, some are made from synththetic products (plastic)
Well because my instructor has asked me to switch to a number three I will do that. I
That is reasonable, although I would expect any teacher to explain their reasons for doing so. A student can learn a lot about playing from understand the mechanics behind the equipment such as mouthpieces and reeds. My philosophy when I was teaching was to make myself obsolete, so the student learned not only what to do but why they were doing it. So being able to make informed decisions form themselves and ultimately be their own teacher.

I understand that some players think of harder reeds as a goal to aim for, or that as a player gets better more experienced they use harder reeds. I used to think that but after 40 years of pro playing have since discovered that if you learn to do proper air support and embouchure, you can actually get better and more versatile results from softer reeds so I have transitioned down to 2, 2.25 or 2.5 and never looked back.
 
No, some are made from cane, some are made from synththetic products (plastic)...........

Pete I have a question about the synthetic reads. I knew they existed, and a lot of folks have said that the reason they like them is because of their dependability in terms of playability and manufacturing consistency.

Is that reason enough to buy them and use them? Considering the fact that you hear that somebody buys a box of reads and maybe five out of the 10 are playable, that seems like a waste of money.

as a newbie I’m tempted to go to synthetics just because I would know that every read in the box was playable and reliable. Seems like a no brainer to me. Reeds ain’t cheap! Your thoughts?
 
PS: would a person such as yourself, with as much experience as you have, find a way to play every single Reed in the box, in spite of the fact that one might not exactly be made quite right? Just how fussy are saxophone players anyway? When they say they can only use five out of 10, are they really just being picky, and actually all 10 are playable?
 

Similar threads

Back
Top Bottom