Carbon Onyx buzzing

[Robert Frederick]

I have bought several Blck Onyx Reeds and like the MS as the M requires too much air for my setup.

Here is my recent experience.

The first time out of the card, they all play like a total dream.

After a few days, I can start getting some funny buzzing and some distortion with some of the reeds. Some mature OK. I played 10 different M and MS reeds last week and sort 3 that play the way I like.

I have been storing them by just laying them on a smooth flat wood surface. I am a little hesitant about putting them into a reed holder for some reason.

My setup is the stock mouthpiece for a 1976 Selmer Mark 7. I am wondering if the ligature pitching together on the outer surface of the reed might be causing my issues.

Perhaps a new mouthpiece or ligature might help.

Any suggestions or advice you can give me would be appreciated.

Dr. Bob

retrorocketmusic.com

[Anonymous]

I play Alto, and bought 4 different types of synthetic reeds, the first one was faulty, the other 3 sounded too false in the upper registers.

They were ok in the lower and middle register, apart from a few keys that didn’t sound right. To get round various key differences meant using a different embouchure for those corrupt keys – and i didn’t want to spent several weeks retraining my embouchure. So i went back to cane reeds.

I think it’s case of they work for some people – i couldn’t get on with them. I would say the probably work better with Tenor sax’s which play lower down the scale than an alto.

Saying all that, my daughter plays on a clarinet and she uses synthetic reeds with no problems – so i guess it’s just me.

[john]

well, I tried several synthetic reeds at first and didn’t like them and so kept using cane. then I found some that worked really well for me and I haven’t played a cane in several years.

the onyx happens to be one of my fave go-to reeds along with the copper. they both work well for me but I don’t get any buzzing issues with either of them.. also never store them, the ones I’m not playing just sit on my desk and the one I am plying just sits on my mouthpiece which is on the sax on the stand. that’s one of the great things about synthetics, no warping and drying out which was a huge issue with cane. so…I think a different mouthpiece can certainly make a difference with what you are dealing with so hopefully you have some in your drawer!

[Robert Frederick]

Johnny”

So I have been liking the MS. The M jut wears me out from blowing to hard after 20 minutes. I ca play a 4 hour gig with a ne MS with three 10 minute breaks.

I have about 10 of these synthetic. I played all 10 of them for about 5 minutes each, some coper, some black, and some tan. I found that I only really liked 5 of them. The dislike is the energy required to plow the M’s and some of the MS reeds.

I like to store them on the desk like you said.

My old ligature clamps a squeezes on the reed surface, so maybe another ligature might brevet the changes that I experience after a accouple of sessions.

Also if you could recommend another mouthpiece to try, I would appreciate it.

A rough cut at my own group

[jake]

I’ve noticed I occasionally get distortion/scratchy sounds. After playing a bit I have a wet mouth and there tends to get saliva on the backside of the reed. I take it off and wipe it down and it’s gone. Not sure if that may be an issue for ya??
Jake

[john]

built up saliva on the reed is a very common issue and when it builds up it can get pretty noisey! not sure if that’s what you are calling a “buzzing” sound.
also, a ligature can “choke” a reed by being too tight or simply not fitting right as some cheap ones do.

[Bob]

What’s up Doc? Like you I found it became kind of buzzy. Switched to Legere Signature. Great tone and they last. When I played a Mark VII I used a Brilhart metal mouthpiece. I’ve seen some on Reverb. I don’t recall you saying alto or tenor. I get a really nice sound that you can manipulate to match most any style without breaking the bank on a Meyer 5 with a VanDoren M/O ligature on alto. Tenor, I use a VanDoren V16 T7 with a M/O ligature or if I want to darken my tone a bit more, a Rovner Platinum. Now that being said, there’s a Theo Wanne Gaia 4 should arrive tomorrow that I imagine will be hanging off the neck of a Yanagisawa TWO 10 that’s being boxed up in Japan as we speak. So much for the bank.

Cheers

[Mel]

Interested to hear how you like the new Yanagisawa when it arrives! 🙂

[Bob]

I’ll be happy to give a full report!

[Rick Harvey]

I’ve tried Legere & Silverstein & Sons. Would like to try Fiber Reed Carbon Onyx but I live in Canada & when I try to purchase from their website Canada doesn’t show up in their country drop down. Anyone have any suggestions about or if they ship to Canada? Thanks

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