Hey! Thank you for your demonstration and the spectrograms! I switched to Legere European Cut about a year ago and generally haven't regretted at all. Everything time I happen to try cane reeds (mostly Vandoren V12 or Steur exclusive) I remembered why I actually switched. For me the legeres, esp. new French cut, give more consistency across the range with no 'week notes' as it often happens with cane reeds, cause I'm not a big fan of tinkering with my reeds to make them work. I should admit, that with Legere you need to treat high clarion and up a little bit differently like releasing the lip pressure a little bit to make it sound round and nice. I haven't formed my own opinion about French cut yet, but I can already say that I like the good amount of resistance with ease of articulation, so it's just easy to control. Timbre-wise, my opinion might be unpopular but I like the synthetic sound: it's purer playing softly, richer in low register, and it's easier for me to get the ping I need from the throat tones and long B.

@clarinetninja

6 ай бұрын

There is an attractive and easy focus in the throat tones due to the reed being perfectly balanced. That is a very nice thing. Legere seems, to me at least, to be making something that is their own thing. The VK1 strikes me as much more like a cane reed in the way it plays. All of this is so much fun!

Thanks for the video. I may try one. I used European Cut for a year or two but currently back on cane. Legere were my favorite of any brand (synthetics). I’m curious about these.

I prefer the cane.

Gran video ❤

First I want to say thank you for your great videos. It has been a great help to me as someone that is coming back to clarinet after having not played on a regular basis and currently working to get my embouchure and stamina back to start playing with the community concert band, while setting sights on auditioning for one of the local symphonies. Synthetics were just being introduced when I stopped playing regularly, but I did pick up a Legere the other day based on one of your earlier videos. I enjoyed working on reeds when I was in high school and my first couple of years of college, but life is too busy now considering I have teenagers, wife, dogs to train, own my own company, and volunteer as an assistant to the high school band director. I will still work and develop some reeds, but if I have a synthetic that is comparable life just got simpler. And at the cost of buying a box of reeds and only finding 4 out 10 that I liked.... Thank you again!

@clarinetninja

6 ай бұрын

Thank you so much for the kind words! I admire all that you do. I understand the challenges of pursuing a passionate hobby with so many wonderful things going on in the rest of one's life. My child is 6, but soon after she was born, I realized that my days of dedicating 5-8 hours of practicing the clarinet with an eye on orchestra auditions were all done. That being said, the time with my child serves me far better than anything else could. Just so you know ahead of the full launch (in the event you are interested) I have started a clarinet program online for people just like you. It sounds like you have enough to do (just wanna say that before I say the rest of this). I have been doing a very small scale of it to work things out - but I am ready to launch to more people soon. It has been rewarding for all and the results have been amazing. Reach out to me at TheClarinetninja@gmail.com if that is something you want to learn more about. (full marketing coming soon!) Thanks for the kind words and keeping the love of the clarinet in the world!

First! Great video as always. In this one person's opinion (at least through the microphone, KZread, etc...) cane wins in this case... I personally heard better legato with cane in the Mozart and better focus in the altissimo with cane (particularly on the forte high D's in the Kovacs...), but these are nitpicks. It sounds like they play very well. Still though, I definitely want to try these- they don't sound as 'syntheticy' as some of the other Legere's I've heard. Thanks again for sharing!

@clarinetninja

6 ай бұрын

John! Your response means a lot to me. I agree the cane has the highest upside. I always just wonder when things will get close enough that I will want the synthetic lifestyle more than the (what would be in this imagined world) marginal upside of the cane. I do think we are living in very good times reed choice wise.

@johnkotches8320

6 ай бұрын

I am not anywhere your level of clarinetist … and just got the French cut. I’ve not reached the level where I need that last little bit of sound quality that could be better on cane. As a busy non-professional woodwinds player not having to deal with reed issues anymore it’s an easy decision . This translates to more practice time. They are a bit darker which is where I wanted to go. And my altissimo is still very much a work in progress. Oh, it’s just signature. European signature became European cut. American cut is a saxophone reed. Yeah the branding went wonky for a couple of moments when they changed the name. Thanks for yet another informative video! I love your inclusion of the spectrogram to get a visualization/quantification of the sonic differences. Thanks for taking the time. Tenor is up next.

Also I recently got the tonal energy app after your comments about it (and I rarely pay for apps).

@clarinetninja

6 ай бұрын

I am with you on that - but I have to say that it is almost a crime that they don't charge more for tonal energy with how much value is there. It is really an amazing tool

Great video! Legeres are great! Though I lean more towards cane reed. It seems that cane reed sounds more focused and covered opposite to Legeres that have tendency to sound more spread and open.

@clarinetninja

6 ай бұрын

I agree with your assessment. Each iteration from every company is getting closer by the day though

Hey buddy! Aloha! I just got these yesterday thanks to you! I’m still having endurance issues so I got the 3 and 3.25. Did you choose to pursue these any longer? Also…is it ok to just use the case that they provided? Also…do you know of the indications that signals that the reed is worn out? By the way…you sound great no matter what you use!!!! I’m jealous!!!!

@clarinetninja

8 күн бұрын

I am still playing V12's. It would be a difficult thing to get me to stop using them. However - I think these are the best Synthetic reeds I have tried. I use the case that comes with them rather than a traditional reed case. Because of the expense of these reeds, I don't like to slide the tip of them under anything. If the tip gets bent even slightly - I am not able to use the reed at all. At first it feels weird to use the case they come in (at least it did for me), but I have never messed a reed up doing it. They don't have any warping issues either - that is a wonderful upside.

Somebody told me to go 1/4 above my normal reed. And, almost forgot it, many thanks for your video!

@clarinetninja

5 ай бұрын

Answering both comment in one reply:) I would try a 3.25 or a 3.5. One of those will be right. Not totally sure which one

I love Legere Reeds, prefer the regular Signature. I tried the new Vandoren Synthetic but prefer the sound of the Legere. Want to try the French Cut eventually.

Thanks again for another great video. Do make videos of products you don’t like because it saves us time and money. I wish I had seen your video on Venn reeds before I spent money on it. I recently bought the French cut; I had been using the Euro cut in rehearsals with the wind symphony. The French cut seems more responsive. I used it as soon as it was delivered in a rehearsal, most around me did not notice a difference between the Legere and the cane reed I usually use (all of the VD reeds 3.5, Morre French cut 3.5, and the Evolution 3.0). Next week I am playing for a contemporary cantata where only one movement is on the A clarinet. I will certainly use the Legere FC on the A since it will be sitting with no time to wet a cane reed. Yes same mouthpiece and barrel on each clarinet. I thinkLegere has a hit on this version, but reserve judgement until I see how it works after using it a few weeks. It feels more like cane on my bottom lip. I was a long time student of Joe Allard who taught me how to adjust reeds, I wonder what he would have thought of synthetic reeds!

@clarinetninja

6 ай бұрын

Speaking of the Venn reed video…it just felt bad to say such negative things. I like their cane reeds very much and I am not wired to blast companies that are doing their best to make something for us. From a viewership standpoint, I hear what you are saying. It was hard for me when a rep from D’Addario, whom I know and like commented on the video. I am about to play the FC at work…I am optimistic about it, but I am also pretty sure I will continue to play V12s

@j.r.1210

6 ай бұрын

​@clarinetninja I don’t think you have any need to apologize. D'Addario evidently should have done more beta testing of the Venn G2, especially the clarinet model. The saxophone Venns are tolerable, if not particularly pleasant to play, but the clarinet Venn is basically useless, with a very strange resistance profile. Other pros have said the same thing. Even I, an amateur, can tell. Why couldn't D'Addario? Anyway, I like the French Cut, and with both it and the VK1 on the market, we have some very solid options.

@clarinetninja

6 ай бұрын

@@j.r.1210 I think my feelings, when I really examine them fall short of needing to apologize, but well within the range of "that didn't feel good to me". I agree completely that the Venn reed should not have been put out in the world when it was. That felt like a first draft of a 7th graders term paper. That is most decidedly on D'Addario. They should have not done it. At the same time, my internal position (to keep my sanity while I say things about equipment for all to watch) is that this is the person/company's best effort (even if it boggles my mind that it is). Every once in a while I get a comment far less kind and supportive than yours. I always wonder - "What are you (the person in the hypothetical comment) so angry about? simply stop watching my video if it is upsetting to you" In this moment, I feel like that is how somebody who makes a product I don't like may feel if I make a negative video about it. I love for my comment section to have space for everybody to talk about what does or doesn't work for them. Things they like or dislike. The one exception is that if they dislike me or the things I present and are framing their comment in a way that doesn't allow for discourse. I am happy to have people offer up things that they think in opposition to me - but in a fashion that promotes further dialogue. If I make a video about something I don't like, I may be the one shutting down the discourse and I don't like that very much...anyway...short answer...yeah the Venn clarinet reed was a disaster in my opinion

I have a question. I play Vandoren 2.5 and V12 3.0. What would you advice to try-out for the French cut?

The 4.5 has a bit of top end zing compared to the slightly softer version, but its what's happening on the human side of the mouthpiece that really impacts one's confidence in one's sound. Going up/down one grade, or changing brands throws voicing and tuning out the window for a while, which is why you need to give any change at the business end of the tube a month or so to bed in, imo. I've found a simple recording setup really useful hete - comparing present to past is a better to arrive at a decision than trying to figure it out on the day you put a different kind if reed on. But i play on alto sax reeds, so what do i know!? 😅

@clarinetninja

6 ай бұрын

I am all for doing whatever works! Use the alto reed if thats where you feel best :) I agree that there are two important parts - the result coming out of the clarinet and the experience behind it

What ligature and mouthpiece would you recommend with the French Cut?

@clarinetninja

6 ай бұрын

I can't, with any amount of integrity, offer much up to answer that for anybody but myself. I think trying the reed on what you already have would be the place to start. I wouldn't go out and buy anything in anticipation of any reed. The good news for me is that this reed was thicker in the butt of the reed and I could easily use the same ligature that I was already using.

I play Fedotov reeds 2.75 nocturne. Quality is good. Now i've ordered legere eurocut 2.5 to try it. I don't know if it will fit or not. When i play tenor sax i prefer only vandoren jaZZ 3.0. I find it good for my handmade mouthpiece,the copy of Francois Louis'es mouthpiece with spherical chamber

@clarinetninja

6 ай бұрын

This is my first time hearing about Fedotov reeds. I went to the site and took a look.

@glebkuz12

6 ай бұрын

@@clarinetninja This is russian master. He's got little fabric. He buys raw cane and make clarinet and alto reeds. In Russia Vandoren and Rico reeds became more expansive (120% i think). So Fedotov reeds are now more affordable. Quality is better because of limited edition

@glebkuz12

6 ай бұрын

@@clarinetninja i believe that you can contact to the owner, they can give you some reeds for the test. They have also given reeds for test to Alex Vengerov (russian speaking american clarinet player). He's got KZread channel too.

How much time can legere reeds be in use? Comparing to cane reeds

@clarinetninja

6 ай бұрын

I used to use a legere for a couple months of pretty intense playing. I have gone back to cane for the past few years. The life would be pretty long, but finding another one to change to was the struggle that made me stop using them

I use V12 strength 4.5, would you say French Cut 4.5 is a similar strength?

@clarinetninja

6 ай бұрын

I think that will be about right. I tend to like a more resistant synthetic reed than cane reed. I don’t think the French cut goes much higher than 4.5

@tabbywarrior

6 ай бұрын

@@clarinetninja Yeah I think 4.5 is the most for French. Thanks for the feedback! I'll definitely try it out then!

@davideichler5105

6 ай бұрын

@@clarinetninja , I have some issues with Legere's reed strength numbering system. I find a #3.25 Legere Signature European runs about the same strength as a blue box Vandoren #3.5, (but then I don't play clarinet much these days), but a #3.25 Vandoren standard Signature on alto sax is noticeably softer than a #3 Vandoren Java alto, and way softer than a #3 V12 alto reed.

@clarinetninja

6 ай бұрын

@@davideichler5105 I have used Legeres on Alto, Tenor, and Soprano. It sounds like you play far more saxophone than I do. The numbering of resistance of reeds is far more subjective (from a company standpoint) than would be good for consumers. Even the same company will have differences in the resistance between cuts of reeds that they offer. I feel the same frustration as you. I also tend to use vandoren as the standard to which reed strenghts should be compared. At the same time is that really fair? Maybe yes maybe no - but everybody comes to it with their own unique perspective on what a 3 or 4 should feel like. For me, playing on a reed that is perfectly balanced the way a synthetic is changes the amount of resistance I want because the resistance feels good to me. There are a lot of factors at play! I have to remind myself when I am exploring these things that it will most certainly cost more money than I would like to spend to figure out what will work for me.

@davideichler5105

6 ай бұрын

@@clarinetninja , from what I have found, the charts that compare strengths between brands and models of cane reeds seem pretty accurate, even when comparing between different instruments and the same basic style of reed. Haven't really used other synthetic reeds, but Legere's strength comparison charts with other reeds seem a bit wacky.