Do I personally play synthetic reeds?

"Regarding synthetic reeds — which I have been finding more reliable than cane reeds — what is your opinion on these in general? How long do they last and do you recommend a particular brand?" -Marty

Synthetic Reeds: The Cracker Barrel of the Reed World

The best way I can describe synthetic reeds is this: when you’re taking a road trip, Cracker Barrel is good and reliable. It’s not fine dining, and you won’t have any sort of out-of-body culinary experience there, but it’s totally serviceable. Synthetic reeds are the Cracker Barrel of the reed world. Great in a pinch, and reliable in all sorts of climates. Are they as good as a good cane reed? No, not even close. Are they better than a crappy cane reed? Yes, usually. That’s why I have a synthetic reed in my kit wherever I go, just in case.

Interestingly enough, I find synthetic reeds just as variable as cane reeds — you’d think that if they were man-made, they’d all be the same. But you’d be wrong. I’ve tried a lot of synthetic reeds (for bass clarinet) in this video, and found Légère to be the most “like cane” of the bunch. That video was made before Légère came out with their Tenor Sax "French Cut," which I think is even better (yes, Tenor sax reeds and bass clarinet reeds are nearly identical, and they are interchangeable.)

Vandoren recently came out with the VK1 for Bb clarinet (no bass clarinet just yet). They’re a different design, but also quite good. They run hard, and they have an odd strength system — 35 through 60, in increments of “5”. I find that the best analog to a cane reed is to “subtract 10 and divide by 10” — in other words, a 35 would be equivalent to a 2.5 reed ((35-10)/10=2.5). The Légère also run hard, so if you’re looking for, say, a 3.0 equivalent reed, you’d want to subtract 1/4 or 1/2 strength and start there.

Hope this is helpful, and thanks for the question!