Légère French Cut Clarinet Reeds
Légère French Cut Clarinet Reeds
The French Cut reed is by far my favorite cut Légère makes. (I especially like their Tenor Sax French Cut on the Bass Clarinet, but I digress...). The French Cut is also their newest variety, coming out a few months after Vandoren released the VK1.
If you have tried Légère reeds in the past, and have not found success, I strongly encourage you to try these. I think they are a step up from the European Cut reeds in one important way: I find the tip of the French Cut responds MUCH more crisply, especially when articulating staccato. It's nearly cane-like. Impressive. Oh, and Légère claims these are "darker" than its European Cut sibling. Your mileage may vary, but there is more "meat" in the vamp, which gives the sound more body.
By the way, if you are used to the European Cut, just note that these run a hair softer—like maybe an 1/8 strength.
Now, I do not carry all of the Légère varieties — I'm not a fan of the Classic or the Signature cuts at all — but I do carry these French Cut, and the European Cut reeds.
Important note: these reeds on this page, are not returnable to Earspasm, however Légère offers a generous exchange program. Just click that link, fill out the form, and they'll exchange your reed.
Yeah the title says it all. These reeds are officially my new favorite reeds hands down!! Everything about it is just amazing. It has such a dark tone and playing with this reed makes you not want to put down your clarinet!! :)
I have always felt that synthetic reeds just lacked all of the features of regular cane. They have always seemed dull to me. I do believe these are the closest to organic reeds. The exchange policy is also very good if you need to modify strength.
This new French Cut Legere plays better for me than the Signature and European cut. It still doesn’t sound as stable and pretty as a cane reed, but it’s great for teaching classes and other situations when I need to grab my clarinet and play without monkeying around with keeping a reed wet.
I'm a professional clarinet player and have tried lots of synthetics over the years. At one time, the Europesn cut was my primary reed, and more recently the Vandoren VK1. I always say they are good, consistent B+ reeds, but never an A. I ordered just one French cut just to try. Bingo. It has the qualities I was looking for in all those other reeds. The responsiveness and evenness from top to bottom is impressive. There seem to be, at least after one day's trial, no limits to the expressive nuance possible. For me, it looks like Legere nailed it! Finally, an A.