Classical Instrument Accessories

Advantages: Cheap maintenance for your pads.
Disadvantages: None.

Yamaha Powder Pads What the chuff are these Paul? I hear you ask. Well, quite simply they are small sheets of paper that have a very slight dusting of powder (like talcum) on one side. Like a pad saver (brush), a crook cleaner and a mouthpiece guard, pad powder papers are an essential part of a saxophone 'kit'. What for? Okay, the pads of saxophones (the bits that close to make a seal) are generally made of very soft leather, or sometimes leather ...
...'valve' that closes must make a seal, therefore is reasonably snug. However, like it or not, hot air (yes you can believe that from me) mixed with minute bits of saliva, pervades everywhere with the saxophone mechanism, including getting on the pads. This means that sometimes we get a condition known as 'sticky pads' where the 'action' of the valves opening is delayed ever so slightly by the pads not moving smoothly away from the seals. Powder paper ... Read review

Advantages: Exceptional tone quality.
Disadvantages: Can be hard to blow initially.

I have been using Vandoren reeds for the past seven years, since I changed clarinet teachers. My first teacher had started me on Rico reeds, and having no experience of clarinet playing did not know that better reeds were available. Since using Vandorens I have managed to improve my tone quality tremendously. I am sitting my grade 8 exam in a few months, most definitely using a Vandoren V12 reed (strenght 3). As with all reed brands, Vandorens ...
...have found that, even increasing strength by only half a unit at a time, changing strength can be a challenging time leading to sore lips and throats. I have also found that the strength and quality of individual reeds vary greatly. One reed may be easy to blow, or even over blow easily, while the next reed in the pack will take a week or too to wear in. I personally use the V12 variety of reeds offered by Vandoren and have started to use the Vandoren ... Read review

Advantages: Cheap
Disadvantages: Don't produce the Best tone in the World

...Rico. This review is about Rico Reeds, but it's hard to talk about them without giving some comparison with the main competitor, since your basic purchasing decision will be between these two brands. Here's what Vandoren say about their standard B flat Clarinet Reeds: "The most widely played Reeds in the professional world." And here's what Rico claim about their most similar product: "The world's most popular Reed." One thing you may be able ...
...in a box). From www.myatt.co.uk Rico Reeds cost £8.50 and Vandoren cost £11.00 From www.dawkes.co.uk Rico cost £6.25 and Vandoren cost £10.25 Rico are well ahead in the tasty price league, so why is it that all these professionals are choosing Vandoren? It really boils down to the sound that comes out when you blow, which to the professional is the only major issue. For us mere mortals though, there are another couple of points to consider- how ... Read review

Advantages: Very smooth sound
Disadvantages: None

After losing my previous mouthpiece in an accident, i can only comment well on the smooth sound i get with this mouthpiece. It has been very useful for getting to the high notes and allows a wide range of expressions i was not able to play before, this may have been down to me getting better at the instrument. It was very easy to break in and it is now moulded to my mouth perfectly, im sure the clarinet players out there will know of the common ...
...is very high quality and was expensive but well worth the money. Reeds fit beautifully with it and a high quality cork was used. I can only say that occasionally when my mouth is tired after playing for extended periods, it sometimes lets out a squeak, but this is a combination of reed, mouthpiece, and facial muscle tiredness. ... Read review

Advantages: extremely playable and very cheap
Disadvantages: horribly underrated

...you can get two rico reeds cheaper than two van doren reeds, and each rico will last as long as any other high-quality reed out there. the name does not hold the prestige of van doren's, in fact it invokes an opposite response when asked what type of reed you play on, but i would never switch from my ricos. when you play a lot, you're more likely to break your reed, and when that happens you don't want it to be an expensive reed that only just got ...
...potential to last as long as that same expensive product. i know over here for marching band the potential for a broken reed is high at every practice and every game, and almost all of us use ricos; same quality, not a big loss when you chip it during the run-on. ... Read review