For reasons unknown to me, the post from which I originally quoted has been removed, but there are similar thoughts expressed in a more recent post.

Anyway, I got a kind offer from someone at Légère to send me a few samples.* They asked about my current cane reed preference, and sent three reeds in different strengths close to what I currently use.

Goodies via Canadian mail

As I mentioned in the previous post, I have used Légère reeds (not the Signature Series) on the largest clarinets, but have not, until now, experimented substantially with the smaller Légères.

I am pleased to report that the Signature Series are highly playable reeds. In fact, they respond nearly identically to my current cane reeds of choice (a popular, leading brand).

I mention response first because I think it’s the most important aspect of how a reed plays, but of course the question on everyone’s mind is tone. I have been playing the Signature Series reeds exclusively for the past week, and I find the tone of these reeds to be clear, dark, flexible (but not overly so), and characteristic of good cane reeds.

The reeds are very well-balanced. Since the reeds I received are of different strengths, I don’t think I can comment conclusively on consistency from reed to reed, but they strike me as having identical playing characteristics other than a predictable difference in resistance between the strengths (which isn’t always the case with cane reeds).

With the usual traffic of students and colleagues in and out of my studio, there have been a number of raised eyebrows at the sight of a plastic reed on my clarinet. In casual demonstrations, the consensus is that these sound like the “real” thing.

Here’s my exhaustive list of what I find to be different between the Légères and my cane reeds:

• Inside my head, there seems to be a little more articulation noise with the Légères. However, after recording myself, I’m convinced that it’s not audible to a listener. Still, perhaps it will push me to further refine my tonguing.
• The flat side of the reeds seems slightly more slippery than cane, which means I have to take a little extra care to get them positioned just right on the mouthpiece.
• The plastic, at least in my studio in January, feels just slightly cool against my lip. I find this minor thing to be vaguely pleasant.
• That’s it.

I would tend to choose the Légère over cane reeds in doubling situations and in my teaching studio, where the advantages of stability and non-warpage are clear. I also wouldn’t hesitate to use them for ensemble playing. As I do have a solo recital coming up, I’ve been doing a little soul-searching about whether I will use the Légère in that situation. At this point, I think I can find and adjust a cane reed that will outplay the Légère by a small (very small) margin. But in a pinch I would gratefully fall back on the Légère, and I think no one would be the wiser. I think these are worth keeping on hand for just such an eventuality, even if you’re not convinced that they’re right for normal performance situations.

On the Légère website, you can take the blindfold test with Richard Hawkins playing the Légère against a cane reed. I figured I might as well offer my own blindfold test, so you can gauge whether the difference is audible with a clarinetist rather less accomplished than the esteemed Mr. Hawkins. Can you tell which is the plastic reed?

Sample A:

Play

Sample B:

Play

See the answer

I understand that Légère is in the process of releasing a Signature Series reed for tenor saxophone, which I am anxious to try as well. Since they are releasing a tenor reed and not an alto reed (yet?) I assume that the saxophone Signature Series is geared more toward jazz players.

*In the interest of full disclosure:

I received three reeds from Légère at no cost, but I was not asked to do anything, including writing a review, in return. I am reviewing the reeds in what I believe to be an unbiased manner. (Phew!)

The Forestone reeds marks the beginning of a totally new era in the development of reeds, all reeds. It is a new beginning because these reeds are reeds which totally duplicate the feeling and response of cane. It  surpasses any reed currently being sold which is not made from cane which has been grown, harvested and then cut. It does have a tremendous advantage in consistency in that it does not have to  be warmed up and soaked. . . .

What this means is that it is just a matter of time before cane reeds as such, become obsolete.

In the same post, Mr. Friedland discusses the new Légère “Signature” reeds, which he finds to be an improvement over the standard Légère, but still not as good as the Forestone. [Update: see my review of the Légère Signature Series clarinet reeds.]

I have not yet tried the Forestones myself, but have used the standard Légères at times, especially for contrabass clarinets. For the very large clarinets, I had a great deal of trouble keeping cane reeds from warping, even during the course of a two-hour rehearsal; the plastic reeds have a clear advantage in this department.

Forestone, Légère, and a bad-news cheapie

In my high school marching band days, I was required to use an inexpensive, brittle plastic saxophone reed. In my opinion, these are not suitable for professional playing. Neither are the plastic oboe or bassoon reeds currently on the market.

I do think it likely that, within my lifetime, I will see plastic single reeds take over in a big way. I expect there will be a few purists who will insist on cane, despite its obvious shortcomings, claiming that nothing sounds like good, old-fashioned cane. I think this blindfold test from Légère shows that plastic definitely can sound very much like cane, and will likely be indistinguishable very soon.

The advantages of quality synthetic reeds could be many:

• consistency from reed to reed
• consistency of one reed from day to day
• no need to soak
• longevity
• significant reduction in long-term reed expenses

While the advantages of good plastic reeds could be huge for clarinetists and saxophonists, the stakes are even higher for oboists and bassoonists—but the challenges are also much greater. As I see it, there are two major reasons why quality plastic double reeds are still a long way off:

1. Double reeds are too individual and personal. Single reed players have mostly adapted to using a few major brands of mass-produced cane reeds, but serious double reed players always make their own. One bassoonist’s reeds are very different from another’s, but it’s not at all surprising to find two clarinetists who use the same make, model, and strength. What this means is that synthetic single reeds can, theoretically, be manufactured to feel and sound very much like a reed that is already popular among a large number of clarinetists or saxophonists, but even a very good plastic double reed will likely feel foreign to an oboist or bassoonist. I think oboists and bassoonists could successfully adapt to using these (so-far-imaginary) reeds, but widespread acceptance would be slow.
2. Soaking plays a different role with double reeds than with single reeds. With a single reed, the object moisture-wise is to get the reed soaked while changing its shape as little as possible—so a reed that is flat on the back stays flat on the back. This is one reason that a plastic single reed is a great idea. Double reeds, though, need to “warp” a little when soaked; a reed that is too dry will have an opening that is too small. So the mechanics of a plastic double reed, which presumably does not respond to soaking, are a little different. Perhaps not impossible, but surely more complicated.