I´m not surprised about the Royals. Waiting for the Orange. Great fun!

I played Alexander reeds exclusively on tenor, alto and clarinet for 20 years. Recently been trying less expensive reeds. Good results so far with Hemke on tenor and alto and Vandoren V21 on clarinet.

I still have several boxes of the old Rico Royal. Just bought my first box of the new Royal by D'addario and they look very different but play very well - I prefer the old ones though!

I have had very good luck with Rigotti Gold reeds. Each strength number has a light, medium, and hard strength. I have been using a #3 light and they are very consistent. From the reeds being reviewed here, I have played the Hemke and the Royal ones with pretty good results.

Thanks for another great video, SirValor. I had similar results with the box of Vandoren Juno 3 tenor reeds that I purchased a while back: 1 or 2 usable, but not great, and all five of them too stiff. I may try a box of 2 1/2 in the future. I've tried all of D'Addario's offerings; now I'm curious about the Giardinelli reeds.

back in the day, I only recall Rico (old brown box), Rico Royal (white/gray box with blue stripes), La Voz (green and black box) & Vandoren (purple plastic box). Later on I discovered Brilhardt, Carl Fischer, Roy J. Meyer, Symetricut Reeds. There was also a Bundy Fibercane Reed. This was way back in the 70's. Reeds have an amazingly long shelf life !

@Sirvalorsax

3 жыл бұрын

So true, I got sent a box of Vandoren ble box 1's by accident. They still played out of the box!!!

Funny thing about the Royals, I got a pack of three, 2 strength, all very stiff and dried my mouth out like no other reeds I've ever played. Compared to other 2 strength reeds I had, even brand new ones, they felt way stiffer, like blowing through a 2x4. Stopped playing one of them, no good. Kept at it on the other two in my rotation, now they're my go to reeds! If I had anywhere to go, that is.

The Roayl reeds having by D'Addario on the box is just D'Addario phasing out the Rico name after they bought the Rico company. I usually play on Legere reeds and I had a couple of alto mouthpieces that didn't have the response I wanted with, so I bought a bunch of different cane reeds at different strengths to see which would work. I found any classical type reeds like Vandoren Traditional or Hemke, I had a hard time with due to either being a bit soft and buzzy or a bit too resistant but trying other reeds I found I liked the Royal reeds the most and like you I founf most of the consistancy issues were the strength but I liked the sound and the response of the good strength reeds.

@dynoroad

2 жыл бұрын

I found the same using the Hemke and Traditional or any other reed with a thin tip. What I like about them though is that they're often easy to play, good for general practice. But the thin tip can easily get overly buzzy, or even squeaky.

I probably make traditionalists screech, I use legere and haven’t changed it in a year 😂

@lucassstache8069

3 жыл бұрын

@Keanan nice. Use those legere 3’s on alto as well (I don’t play alto that much) I love that little crack right in the middle of my reed even though it doesn’t impact the sound😂

@johnkotches8320

3 жыл бұрын

I use Legere on everything except baritone Sax.

@lucassstache8069

3 жыл бұрын

@@johnkotches8320 I’m finding that legeres sound great on all my saxophones but not on clarinets, they’re very stuffy on those

@517JET

3 жыл бұрын

I play Legere signature reeds on soprano, alto, and soprano!

Took your advice, went with Fibercell and i think for an part-timer.. they feel as cane and are great. I bought Legere in many styles and Fibercell hit it on first one. Thanks.!!!

@Sirvalorsax

2 жыл бұрын

Great to hear!

I play the royals on bari for school. I Honestly like them more than the green box vandorens I used before. I do agree that the consistency can be not the best at times though.

@Sirvalorsax

3 жыл бұрын

The are only $2 more per box than the Orange box also

Excellent

Royals have been my go to reeds for decades! I really like Lupafaro’s but they’re hard to find. I’m curious about the Gonzales and Alexander reeds

@Sirvalorsax

2 жыл бұрын

I was really surprised by the Royals.

you could hear the difference with the Royals come across with your playing... This sounds like its going to be a real fun series......for us at least :D

@Sirvalorsax

3 жыл бұрын

Lots of work, Lots of fun

Could you do a similar review of different jazz cut reeds?

......Hi....Sirvalorsax......many years ago,..trying to find the best sax reed ...I bought lots of them...Different brands....almost all of them.... One day...I purchased chinesse reeds.....Riyin.the brand.....Very..very cheap reeds.......But ...the best.... Nothing to envy from VanDoren,Rico, etc...etc...etc...That's why I think that all of them....are a myth....and a very good business......Regards

Would you review any of the cheap reed brands that you see on Amazon such as Cecilio, & other non home name brands?

Hi Sirvalor! Would you consider adding time tags to these types of videos? It would help viewers like me jump around the video and compare.

@Sirvalorsax

3 жыл бұрын

Great idea!

The la voz are great for playing outside where you’re playing much louder, they’ve got a bit more durability than vandorens yet much cheaper

@saxboss1

3 жыл бұрын

@Keanan haha I have been there too!

@86larsonrd

3 жыл бұрын

I always come back to La Voz

I’m sure you already know this but Vandoren’s numbering is very different than Rico’s. A vandoren 2.5 is stiffer than a Rico nr 3 for example.

Do you find that the stiff reeds tend to play better after you've had a chance to wear them down by playing?

@Sirvalorsax

3 жыл бұрын

Absolutely!

You should review the Boston Sax Shop reeds

@Sirvalorsax

3 жыл бұрын

After Part. 2, they are next and also the Rigotti Gold Reeds

@AaronTMartin

3 жыл бұрын

I believe he mentioned he'll be reviewing BSS and Rigotti Jazz Gold reeds after reviewing the inexpensive (or less expensive:) ) options.

I wonder if you Reed Geek the bad or stiff ones, would they actually play better.

I had look at my blue boxes because I've been using them for years and calling them Rico Royal when it doesn't even say Rico anywhere on the box.

@Sirvalorsax

3 жыл бұрын

Lol

By all accounts the Juno reeds are Java green box reeds, packaged and marketed to rival the Rico orange box reeds. To reduce the stiffness variation within a box of reeds the manufacture would need to issue a different array of reed strengths suchas 2s, 2,25, 2,5s, 2.75 and then strength 3. Example - if a reed measures 2.25 in its stiffness does the maker place this among the 2 strengths or the 2.5 strength? "Some" makers offer their reeds in strengths such as 2 light / 2 medium / 2 strong and then 3. Q: have you played Gonzxales Jazz reeds? Steuer Jazz reeds? I would suggest the Steuer a half strength less than your preferred as they're quite stiff, require a long breakin period but have wonderful durability. Your next presentation perhaps. Maybe trial the Rigotti Wild reeds and see what you think. regards from Melbourne

@Sirvalorsax

3 жыл бұрын

I played green box reeds for years and these felt nothing like them

@apistosig4173

3 жыл бұрын

@@Sirvalorsax hmm, very interesting. Do the Juno reeds remind you of anything else perhaps?

You now your stuff man I love your KZread channel, I have one question for you did you paint your VR brute your self and if you did how did you do it it looks beautiful I'm looking to do mine in a color that my son used to love he passed away 4 years ago and I would love to have his baby blue on mine can you help me out thank you hope to hear from you.

@Sirvalorsax

3 жыл бұрын

My Cannonball is the dark amber lacquer which is a finish offered by the manufacturer. McGill Music Sax School channel has a video on a zebra stripe paint job he did on a saxophone that I would suggest you check out. I had a mouthpiece custom airbrushed painted that I did a review on. Timiy sax mouthpiece done up like a lava lamp.

Yes to legere

fyi its hard to scroll around and see what reed you are talking about. happy new year

Pavane intro ? Is that you playing all the woodwinds?

I use Rigotti, here, in germany the are relative cheap. For me this reeds are very consistent, Can You please, in future compare tenor saxophones? I buyed in february a selmer reference 36 , sounds really good, intonation is better than on my Selmer 137,xxx . But the springs are so strong tence. I almost thing its like the selmer reference is like 15 Set for guitar in compare to a 9 Set which is the 137,xxx. Also it needs more air , before the tone comes, but it has high f# :-) Im not sure if I should practise the reference so maybe it becomes as fast as the 137,xxx, which, I think, is 30-40% faster than the ref. Other, the inner sound in head from the reference is much louder than from the 137,xxx. Sorry for using comment to ask non context questions. Thank You for all the informational videos, I have learned a lot and still do! And I always look every day a coupe of times if You have something new online :-) sorry for my english, its a nightmare ... I know... :-D

@Sirvalorsax

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching, I'm in the process of trying to do mroe saxophone reviews.

@UListenHere

3 жыл бұрын

@@Sirvalorsax Thats great, I think I will learn a lot,.Thank You!

I used to use LaVoz reeds back in the day . They have a different response. Not my favorite

Do you have any experience with Gonzalez reeds?

I switched over to D'Addario after trying the Royals. I think the La Voz are a bit bright and tend to work better on a darker mouthpiece - they have a very "open" sound and feel but are thinner on top. I'm mostly using the Jazz Select right now but I have La Voz as well and switch between them from time to time. The Royals are solid, not buzzy, and inexpensive. If I had to buy locally, I would be buying Royals (since none of the shops in my semi-rural area carry the other Daddario reeds). I find any of the daddarios suit me better than any of the vandorens. I'm not sure why but they just work better for me.

off topic but can you explain what all the letters mean on the kaizen shirt

@Sirvalorsax

3 жыл бұрын

They look like what the Japanese characters look like but with English letters and numbers. I've basically spelled it in Japanese use English symbols.

you can fix it too

What are the best reeds? There aren't any, it's all a hit and miss game. The words of Joshua Redman!

@Sirvalorsax

3 жыл бұрын

LOL!!

Juno were my first ever reeds (alto). Paired with a generic mouthpiece, the tone couldn't have been more bland

@Sirvalorsax

3 жыл бұрын

LOL

Hey how are?!....Can I please ask you, how important is vowel sounds when playing the sax? Also when and why should you move your jaw/lower lip when playing the sax? I saw your video about the fulcrum but I just wanted a bit more understanding.

@isaiahd9947

3 жыл бұрын

To my understanding you usually don't want to move your jaw. I think there may be an exception for low notes in jazz though.

Junior becomes boss of the family…

@Sirvalorsax

2 жыл бұрын

Great analogy and sweet Soprano's reference

Does it matter how long you soak the reeds?

@Sirvalorsax

3 жыл бұрын

Yes, Usually no longer than 2 minutes in water. When I clean them with peroxide, no less than 5 minutes or when the bubbles stop forming.

@Tsax1949

3 жыл бұрын

@@Sirvalorsax Thank You! Great advice.

they sound like very hard and rough the number does not match the mouthpiece

13:09 out of your hundreds of videos, that's the first time we see you putting a reed on a mouthpiece. Royals win.

@Sirvalorsax

3 жыл бұрын

LOL!!