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Légère Reeds
Frequenty Asked Questions
 
Clarinet
Reeds
Saxophone
Reeds
Oboe
Reeds
Bassoon
Reeds
Strength
Comparison Chart
FAQ Materials History Maintenance Guarantee Artists
 
Question - How do Légère Reeds differ from other synthetic reeds?
Answer - Légère reeds are made from a special polymer compound with a very fine microtexture. They have low density, so that they float, like cane reeds. In fact, our material is designed to mimic the important properties of damp cane as closely as possible. Because of the microtexture, we can machine very fine tips for the fantastic response you would expect from a great reed. See our Science and Materials pages for more details.

Question - How long will one reed last?
Answer - Players report a variety of lifetimes, but most would agree that our reeds easily last long enough to make them a very economical choice in the long run. Some players have reported playing for months on a single reed. You can prolong the life of your reed by treating the tip with care, and by rotating the reed after an hour of hard practice.

Question - Why are Légère reeds so expensive? .Aren't they just cheap bits of molded plastic?
Answer- No! Our compound is our own trade secret. We have to make it ourselves in order to control the strength of the material, and thus to make reeds of different strength. Our reeds are machined on an expensive CNC machine, not stamped or molded like conventional plastic parts. In fact there are many steps in the manufacturing process, and the entire process takes approximately two weeks.

Question - Don't I have to get used to a "real" reed anyway?
Answer - Many professional musicians don't think so. They are playing and recording on Légère reeds full time. There is no need to play on any other type of reed. Larry Combs, Principal Clarinet of the Chicago symphony, recommends Légère Reeds for his students. Have a look at our Artist pages.

Question - How do I pick a strength?
Asnwer - Go to our Our Reeds page to learn more about each type of reed and to compare our strengths to those of other reeds that you might be familiar with. We do offer an exchange of strength policy in many countries. Please see our Guarantee for details.

Question - Can I work on the reed?
Answer - It is possible, but not recommended.

Question - Why Do they work?
Answer - The secret to the success of Légère Reeds is a combination of a unique synthetic material, and meticulous computer controlled processing operations. Natural cane has a combination of high stiffness and low density that can be difficult to duplicate in a synthetic material. The manufacturers take advantage of the natural variation in cane to produce reeds of different strength. Cane reeds are graded according to strength: stiff cane is generally used to produce “harder” reeds. We have successfully duplicated this property variation in our material, and because we can control the material properties very precisely we are able to deliver reeds of consistent strength – each and every time.

Clarinet
Reeds
Saxophone
Reeds
Oboe
Reeds
Bassoon
Reeds
Strength
Comparison Chart
FAQ Materials History Maintenance Guarantee Artists
 
 
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