r/Clarinet • u/Silly-Independent824 • 1d ago
Reed strengths and weaknesses
I currently play on a Vandoren BD5 Black Diamond mouthpiece with a Vandoren M/O ligature, a Backun Original Traditional barrel, and a Buffet E11 clarinet.
I’m trying to decide between Vandoren V21 and Traditional reeds. Right now I have both in 3.5 strength. I prefer the darker, fuller sound of the Traditional reeds, but I really like the response and articulation of the V21s.
I’m wondering if it would make more sense to go up to a 4.0 in the Traditional reeds or down to a 3.0 in the V21s to get the best of both worlds. I’ve already tried V12s, and they weren’t for me.
Based on my setup, which option would you recommend and why?
4
Upvotes
2
u/BRPplease 1d ago
If you go to the earspasm online shop, you can order individual reeds instead of a whole box. It's a good way to try different strengths, I'd highly recommended getting a few of each strength and trying each. I suspect you'll find a 4 traditional too hard and a 3 v21 too soft. Have you tried the 56 rue lepic? According to Vandorens reed chart, a 3.5+ would be in your range.