Colin the Bear
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Java green are French cut. ZZ and red java are American cut. French and American cut reeds work better on a different facing curves
imo
imo
Hmm.... I do not entirely agree, but this may be a partly semantic disagreementJava green are French cut. ZZ and red java are American cut. French and American cut reeds work better on a different facing curves
imo
So I bought a couple of Java and prefer the feel of the green 2 1/2. BU, I find it tires more quickly than the Blue or other reeds I have. Maybe 2 hours of constant practicing...
Java Greens are the most flexible of the Vandorens I reckon, so if you hammer them too early on in the blowing in process, they can tend to 'tire' quickly. But put it away for a couple of weeks to let it really dry out, and it will play well once more.So I bought a couple of Java and prefer the feel of the green 2 1/2. BU, I find it tires more quickly than the Blue or other reeds I have. Maybe 2 hours of constant practicing...
That, is the answer. The more you have to compress a reed to make it play, the faster it will blow out.I play with a very loose embouchure so I don't put much stress at all on my reeds.
The more you play, the more you will want from your sound - response, range etc and the more that you will ask of your reed. You'll notice finer differences more. Any change in setup will possibly lead to a change of reed too. Java's were my reed for several years until I changed mouthpiece/horn and then they were unusable for me. I have also played Hemke, which I loved until I changed setup. ZZ's, Lupifaro, Jazz Select. Problem is, there are so many now. Along with all the horns, 'pieces, ligs... Add to this the amount of styles you might find yourself playing and trying to adapt to. Also, the longer you play on one reed, the less you notice it deteriorate (get softer, along with your chops!) and the next 'identical' one will feel anything like identical. Most reeds vary a lot, as they are not man-made.I put a Vandoren Jazz 2 1/2 on my alto this morning and the sound was different from all the previous cane reeds I have played. However, it felt like it was harder to play and might be better in a 2. I couldn't find a 2 at the store. I was curious about the Javas, since I've never had any, so I bought a Green and a Red to see what's up. I haven't played either yet, but I will before I look back at your replies, if any. It's best if you have played them.
Different cuts. Rico orange are American cut and Vandoren Blue are French cut. These cuts were originally to accommodate American and French mouthpieces which have a different facing curve.I've been using Rico 2.5 and 3 for about a year now but just yesterday ordered the Vandoren traditional in the 2.5 strength. Cost about $5 each. The seller did not have 2's. I've heard so many positive things about that brand so am anxious to try. One comment that I read was that the v21's were more like the traditional than the v12's.
Different cuts. Rico orange are American cut and Vandoren Blue are French cut. These cuts were originally to accommodate American and French mouthpieces which have a different facing curve.
V12 are French cut. V21 is American cut.
Imo it's short sighted to restrict yourself to a reed that has been labelled with a genre of music.