As an engineer that works on an assembly line I can't help to notice a lot of inefficiencies in their production. now I'm not sure if this is the only farm, factory, aging house and so on seen but just the technical aspects of the facilities could be improved honestly. I really hope someone comes and sees this video and decides to innovate for them. All in all a great video but i really wish you could have explained more about why they were doing some of the things to better suit the newer audience like me that doesn't know the first thing about a reed. :)
I now use Legere, but the last cane reeds I bought were Rigotti Gold. I believe I still have a couple boxes. They're good as far as cane reeds go. I used them for classical setup.
Fascinating! A couple of years ago I toured the D'addario (formerly Rico) reed factory in Burbank, CA. Their cane is grown in France and South America, so we only saw pictures of the fields, but the long growing process you showed is similar. Their manufacturing floor is quite different, though, as they have gone to CNC milling machines and computerized scanners for consistency. They employ several musicians full-time who inspect the reeds via computer and who spend hours a day playing them; in fact, reed production only occurs when a musician is on-site. Our tour guide was one of those musicians, Kevin Garron (check out his smokin' alto solo in the Big Phat Band's recording of "Why We Can't Have Nice Things"), as well as the senior production engineer. Since I'm an engineer and sax player myself, having both perspectives was really interesting to me. Like you, I gained a new respect for the art and craft of reed making. BTW, another interesting thing was watching them make the tenor sax Jazz Select mouthpiece prototypes. They actually start with a rod of hard rubber and use CNC mills to cut it into shape.
Mind blown within 4 minutes, the reeds are fortified in their flexibility from growing in such windy conditions. Friggin' brilliant. It must have taken a truly inspired (intoxicated) genius to surmise this advantage. Or perhaps ancestors knew better that quality of life yields higher quality products.
Wow Jay that's amazing. Iam trying for a smoother sound but I've been buying the cheapest reeds I can find. My sound is suffering for it. Gonna go up in quality. Thanks for showing a very informative video.
@@bettersax Haha the Orange Rico's are the ones I've been using. I usually get 3 for around 8 dollars. Out of the 3 one will work When I start having trouble with it I'll go back and get an old one and sometimes it will play good. I guess they dry out or something.
this is amazing, i always looked at the bamboo cane in my village and hoped to start improvising my own reeds, i guess i need to keep buying now. thanks for this information
Jay interesting video , thanks for spending time making this video great production - im on Legere Signature Synthetic Reeds from January this year - thanks for your hard work making this regards Paul U.K
Wonder if they provide the cane for making duduk reeds too, that's a long drawn out process to make one of those too. The reed and mouthpiece is one piece of cane. Surprising that this part of France looks just like northern California.
size 3 vandoren java red reeds are absolutely amazing!!! but..... they cost twice as much as the already expense standard vandoren reeds. a pack of normal size 3's are like $15, a pack of size 3 java red reeds are like $30. its worth it though!
My little brother once destroyed half of a box with reeds... And that was when I was veeeery short on money. Idk how i got hold of myself to not give him a kick. So feel the pain, folks!
They could, but that would require them to pack them up and send them to you. Also that would mean that there are imperfect reeds out with customers that don't match their quality standards. So, I assume the company benefits from reusing those reeds as opposed to sending out to customers that will not get reeds as expected.
I won't feel so bad about paying for these in the future. Really appreciate the effort you went to, to make this video. I have read about the process but the video brings it all home. Thanks for this and your many other free videos. They all contribute to making me a better sax player.
Reeds vibrate when blown on. The shape matters alot and so does materials and deminsion because it's what causes it to vibrate when air passes over. The vibrating airwaves are passed through the neck and into the body
I was a sax player for years in school. I probably tossed out dozens of used and broken reeds without thinking twice about how they were made. Now I'll almost feel bad throwing away any of them at all! This is an amazing video. I have a whole new appreciation for the reeds sitting quietly on my counter, waiting to be played. Thank you.
It's absolutely amazing! The average person does not realize how labor intensive so many aspects of music comprise. The hours of work done by the musician and by those such as the Reed makers remains a mystery to a lot of non musicians and some musicians. Thank you so much for posting this video. I will recommend this to my students.
I've really stopped using cane reeds for my tenor, but for my alto's I use Vandoren ZZ 2½'s. In a box of 10's, one's maybe awesome, 4-5 are fine and the rest I need to file down on this little glass based file that can actually do wonders :)
What a fantastic Video. Whenever I visit a factory I'm always surprised how lucky we are that things are so cheap. A hell of a lot of work goes into making stuff and this is a perfect example. Box on order. PS I know that videos take a hell of a lot of time and equipment to make too (plus travel / subsistence costs) so thanks for an excellent job.
I am also a bassoon player. I started on the oboe in 5th grade and switched to bassoon in 7th. I was taught many years ago by my teacher (not school) how to make them but that was years ago. After a 10 year interlude, I picked it back up and started playing again. I feel sorry for anyone who doesn't play the bassoon. It is the coolest sounding instrument out there except for maybe the contra bassoon. My friends would always look at me weird when a mix tape (cd) I made had some Snoop Dogg and then the next track was of the South Minneapolis Bassoon Quartet. I can still hum along to my favorite track and its been about 20 years since I had it. I am actually going to look for it now to see if its in a box that was saved by my parents and is in my basement of my house. Keep playing Josh, not too many of us out there!!
@@teds5047 I honestly don't know why more people don't play bassoon. In my (very biased, mind you) opinion bassoon is one of the best sounding instruments out there, and it sure is fun as hell to play
The machine we see at 13:23 is something I didn't know anything about: I was believing reeds get their specific strength from some kind of specific lavoration and that's not true 😲 Thanks man, you're great! ❤
Really nice insights Jay. I did not know you lived in France. Do you still live there? Moved from The Netherlands to Denmark last year. Thank you again for the video of this! All the best to you!
What an incredible video! I'm so cheap, I'm using the same reed I've had for 4 years! Granted, I don't play very often but still! I finally bought ONE new reed and it was 17 euros! Ouch!
@@bettersax double reeds typically cost a lot bc each good Reed has to be hand scraped in intricate and specific locations. It cannot be done well by machine, because each piece of cane is different
The last box of reeds I bought was "Gonzales reeds". They are made in Argentina, they are not the best, but there are not many options in my country. There is a myth that in Latin America they sell us poor quality reeds, and in my experience I think it is true. Even the engraving is usually different within the same brand. what do you think about that?.
This was very interesting. Also points to a very asinine way of thinking. Literally years in the making Intense process perfection delivered $40 a box ($4ea) doesn't seem that expensive to me. And all the "less-than-perfect" reeds are thrown out? You might as well compost cash. Lets just say that 1000 reeds didn't make the QA standard. Even at half cost of new, these factory rejects....which function fine.....you could make $2000. Now that's expensive compost. Young aspiring Wind players wouldn't care if their reed isn't perfect. These rejects would mean the world to an impoverished would-be saxophonist.
Hey Jay! I just purchased a box of tenor sax reeds, 2.5 from The Boston Sax Shop. I have yet to play them, so I don’t know about the quality. But bought them based on your video in which all 5 were excellent. Thanks for the tour. Super fascinating and I am truly amazed at the time and effort required to create these delicate masterpieces.
Thank you for putting a new face to the world of Saxophones. It's people like you that keep young and aged players interested. I had my first "gig" last saturday and put myself to the ultamate test not playing saxophone in 11 years. I jumped WAY out of my comfort zone. With a months notice and a chinese saxophone, I played 4 popular songs (with solos) using your crash course and motivating down-to-earth way of just talking about saxophones. In the end, I had people asking me for my business card. Laughing as I'm typing, my Girlfriend knows you now as my best friend, and to be honest, In June, YOU WERE! Thanks a lot and Greetings from an American in Germany! -Grady Mason II (P.S. My Chinese mouthpiece and ligature are being replaced by a Yamaha 5c + Rovner 1RL tomorow thanks to Amazon)
I play the Rigotti Gold Jazz #3. No one stocks them locally so I buy them on line. Last box, 10 out of 10 played great. Well worth the money, they last a long time when you rotate them.
Fabulous video, Jay! I have use, of late, Green, unfiled Vandorens: Of my latest five, first two are not good. Worse than filed Red Vandorens. They shriek. Are hysterical. I had never heard of Rigotti, and will now try them. Many Thanks for this
"This field of cane-really tall grass-will be turned into reeds." Whoa! This really makes the blade of grass between your thumbs as musical instrument trick, really apropos. I never considered what reeds were made of before I watched this.
I always buy aged reed's. I've bought my cane reed's online from, "dealers old-new stock. Aged reed's always play their hearts out. The sound- 50 year old reed's is unbelievable. They also tend to last longer. Now I know why!
Hey Jay, Thanks for that great video. The last box(es) of reeds that I purchased: Rico (Classic, orange box, I could get my hands on some real old boxes from the early 90‘s - now THATS a difference!) 3 Bari - every single reed was awesome! Hemke 3,5 Soprano (3 our of 5 „ok“, but not great) And - my favorite: Ligaphone Jazz Double Profile 3 for Tenor. 5 our of 5 great! You should check them out some time. Great quality, great cut, great durability, great resistance/attack balance - as I said - my top go to reeds. Keep your work up, i appreciate all the effort and work you put in those videos.
Fabulous, Jay! So interesting to see the entire process of reed making (and I often buy Rigotti Gold reeds for my tenor sax). Thanks for the quality of your video work! I love the overhead drone views of the fields!
This video is one of my most favourite videos of you and has brought me on the way to test them. The quality of this reeds is indeed extrem high and they sound wonderful. Despite of that i test anyway different brands: Marca, Gonzalz, Boston Sax Shop,Hemje, etc. .....
Great video, thanks! Q: The reason why bari reeds are more than twice as expensive compared to tenor reeds is it because there are relatively few canes that have the large thickness?
Rigotti is truely a top brand!!! I used to select just 2 or 3 out of a box of 10 that were really good...from the usual brands... with Rigotti I think almost every reed is good! ;)
I use Rico reeds -I am 85 yo -just started playing 6 months and just subscribed 1 month ago .I bought 2 boxes 11/2 and 2 in packets of 3 No problem with any so far both Alto and Tenor
Actually one of the best sax themed videos I've seen. Before this I only knew that reeds are made of some kind of bamboo, but I really didn't expect how hard it is to make it, so thanks for teaching me something new. Btw last reeds I've bought were Vandoren 2,5 alto sax ones and they're all great. ❤🎷
Add to production costs, the development, production and maintenance of the machinery, the energy required to keep constant the humidity and temp of production areas.Packaging design, printing, wastage of faulty reeds, Wages..Local taxes other stuff which I missed. They ain't cheap by the time you open that box. I can remember when not all 10 were playable. Rarely happens today
Considering the effort, the price of the cane reeds is not obnoxious. What is obnoxious is the price of Legere and other synthetic reeds. It is obviously artificially high and totally made-up. That is why my money will NEVER go Legere et al.
I purchased a pack of 10 RICO alto sax reeds (size 2.0) back in December of 2015 for about $20 a box. I'm still on my first reed! It's a great reed. I can't tell you about the other nine, since I haven't used them yet. 😉 I don't see why a sax reed won't last for many, many years as long as it's not misused or abused, and it's properly placed back in its plastic sleeve after each use. BTW: I've used this reed on average of two to three days a week, and for about three to four hours a day. 😖 🎷♫
I bought a box of Vandoren Blue box 2.5 Alto sax reeds because I am a beginner alto player, and 8 are actually good, 2 are really good out of those 8, and 2 of them are really airy and do not respond well. I've got to say though, the alto reeds are was more consistent than the clarinet reeds of the same Vandoren Blue box, but I use strength 3.5 on those and I get about one really good reed per 4 boxes for clarinet reeds, about 2 to 3 good reeds per box, and about 6 to 7 horrible reeds per box that only can be saved by the ReedGeek (which I have yet to purchase. I currently work my reeds using 900 grit, 1500 grit, and 8000 grit sandpaper cloths because I find that I don't have to be as cautious with the higher grit levels as I do with the lower ones I have tried in the past and the ReedGeek. I really didn't know how to use the ReedGeek at the time thought because I only got to try one when I was about a beginner at clarinet and didn't play alto at the time. My band teacher used to tell me at that time, "ReedGeek is a waste of time and if you want to double on Alto Sax, you might as well double on Alto clarinet; it will save you much trouble." I very much disagree now because I believe the ReedGeek is an amazing investment that I would like to get one day after the coronavirus is neutralized and it is safer to go out and buy things. As for the Alto Clarinet vs Alto Sax, Alto Clarinet reeds are a lot less common than Alto Sax reeds, and with good folks like Rigotti making such good reeds, I don't see why investing in a $100 beginner saxophone that sounds pretty decent is a bad idea. That plus the fact that the Alto Sax has a whole lot more variety of music to play. I am not saying the Alto Clarinet is bad, I love playing it when I get the chance to get my hands on one and it is such an amazing instrument, but for a band kid who really didn't know what he was doing, I would say that the Alto sax was a good investment when I bought it because now, when I finally picked it up, it is so easy to just whip out and play, swab, shine up, and put right back. That and this amazing channel's super effective video on how to set up your embouchre is so helpful because I got discouraged and thought my sax was leaking simply because I was trying to use a much tighter clarinet embouchre on an alto saxophone, and as someone who plays in the higher altissimo range on clarinet a LOT, my embouchre was far too high to produce a good sound on Alto. All in all, for those of you who have read thus far, thank you so much, and thank you, Jay, for producing such wonderful content for all of us Sax players to become Better at Sax. You really have impacted my life in such a huge was and I really appreciate that.
I"m using Rigotti's since a few years now. The best reeds I've ever used. But I've one question: can they put them in carton instead of plastics ? There's already far too much plastics in this world........
Unbelievable how complex the process is, and the machinery. I figured they were farmed, stored and aged in a warehouse, and then processed in a factory, but there's so much more involved. Can only imagine how surreal the tour experience must have been.
I tried some Rigotti Gold tenor reeds recently, but found the 2.5s much too soft for my Meyer 6 or Vandoren Java. T55. After watching this video I would like to give them another try, maybe someone has some suggestions?
Very interesting, fantastic presentation of a reed factory. I just picked up a small box of Rico #2.5 reeds for $6.99. I play classical guitar and it being a solo instrument, lonely. So I cracked out my old alto sax from 1974, re-padded it, now I am off to local bands (concert) for auditions. Thanks for the online info that you have, I am not great but the chops are coming back!
Like many viewers, I tend to take TH-cam content a bit for granted. I grunt at the adverts and skip introductions. This video was just great, though. Made me sit up and think about what it takes to produce something like this. And, since I spend a lot of my time on the Riviera and have always wondered whether I could make decent reeds out of the cane that grows everywhere, I'll definitely leave it to the professionals-and maybe visit the factory. Thanks.
I still have a vandoran tenor mouth piece and leather ligature in my spare drawer. I've watched some of your videos to include some of the student model altos. Awesome channel boss, you inspire people.
You know, I was just watching this video again while eating some celery and it occurred to me that reeds and celery are very similar in structure...to that end, you can buy a bunch of celery and no two stalks from the same bunch will taste or crunch the same...much like reeds...food for thought...literally.
I've always played on Rigotti and probably always will. I do find like vintages of wine, reed quality does change. Perhaps it is the cane is harvested. perhaps some years better than others. I really don't know. As a result, I buy my different reed types all at the same time until I find a good batch, then I order more . It's hit and miss but he usually pays off and then I am well supplied
ultimately the cost is in the margins. A single reed could net them probably a 100 boxes (judging by the size) and they could even sell the "discarded" stuff under another brand name. The fact that people pay them for a box as much as they pay is the reason they can keep that pricepoint. If people stopped paying for the premium stuff, the premium stuff just would get cheaper.
With the amount of time and work which goes into each reed it doesn't feel like $20 for 10 clarinet reeds or $40 for 10 sax reeds is all that expensive any more.
what a waste to some of the cane cut just because it is esthetically ugly. they can simply use it to make a new product line of economy priced reeds right?
I’ve seen numerous videos on reed making but this by far is my favorite and certainly the one I learned the most from. Was already a fan of their reeds.
Bassoon and Oboe players must be angrily laughing right now.
I was actually about to make a comment on how sax reeds are cheap compared to bassoon reeds.
Brooke Hagner, same
IKR OBOE REEDS SO EXPENSIVE
We are
I was about to comment this
I am not a reed player but I loved this video! Fascinating indeed!
As an engineer that works on an assembly line I can't help to notice a lot of inefficiencies in their production. now I'm not sure if this is the only farm, factory, aging house and so on seen but just the technical aspects of the facilities could be improved honestly. I really hope someone comes and sees this video and decides to innovate for them. All in all a great video but i really wish you could have explained more about why they were doing some of the things to better suit the newer audience like me that doesn't know the first thing about a reed. :)
What sort of inefficiencies did you notice? I'm curious
me too i'm curious , tell us
I use Rigotti Gold Reed in all my instruments, approximately six months and I am very satisfied.
I now use Legere, but the last cane reeds I bought were Rigotti Gold. I believe I still have a couple boxes. They're good as far as cane reeds go. I used them for classical setup.
Thank you so much for this informative video.
Fascinating! A couple of years ago I toured the D'addario (formerly Rico) reed factory in Burbank, CA. Their cane is grown in France and South America, so we only saw pictures of the fields, but the long growing process you showed is similar. Their manufacturing floor is quite different, though, as they have gone to CNC milling machines and computerized scanners for consistency. They employ several musicians full-time who inspect the reeds via computer and who spend hours a day playing them; in fact, reed production only occurs when a musician is on-site. Our tour guide was one of those musicians, Kevin Garron (check out his smokin' alto solo in the Big Phat Band's recording of "Why We Can't Have Nice Things"), as well as the senior production engineer. Since I'm an engineer and sax player myself, having both perspectives was really interesting to me. Like you, I gained a new respect for the art and craft of reed making.
BTW, another interesting thing was watching them make the tenor sax Jazz Select mouthpiece prototypes. They actually start with a rod of hard rubber and use CNC mills to cut it into shape.
Mind blown within 4 minutes, the reeds are fortified in their flexibility from growing in such windy conditions. Friggin' brilliant. It must have taken a truly inspired (intoxicated) genius to surmise this advantage. Or perhaps ancestors knew better that quality of life yields higher quality products.
JayLeePoe cane has been used for construction for thousands of years. Winds' effects on strength is well known.
Wow Jay that's amazing. Iam trying for a smoother sound but I've been buying the cheapest reeds I can find. My sound is suffering for it. Gonna go up in quality. Thanks for showing a very informative video.
Cheap reeds won't really save you much money, I hear the orange Ricos are good though.
@@bettersax Haha the Orange Rico's are the ones I've been using. I usually get 3 for around 8 dollars. Out of the 3 one will work
When I start having trouble with it I'll go back and get an old one and sometimes it will play good. I guess they dry out or something.
That was super interesting, thank you! 🎷🎷
this is amazing, i always looked at the bamboo cane in my village and hoped to start improvising my own reeds, i guess i need to keep buying now. thanks for this information
Very nice! Thank you
Jay interesting video , thanks for spending time making this video great production - im on Legere Signature Synthetic Reeds from January this year - thanks for your hard work making this regards Paul U.K
Wooooooowwww beauuutiful information
Jay, What was/Who was the cut playing in the background on your drive until your phone rang?
The California Honeydrops... my favorite band
Wonder if they provide the cane for making duduk reeds too, that's a long drawn out process to make one of those too. The reed and mouthpiece is one piece of cane. Surprising that this part of France looks just like northern California.
My Favorite reeds are La Voz Medium-Soft
so is that the same as the sugar cane or is it different? Very interesting
I would grab those boxes and run
size 3 vandoren java red reeds are absolutely amazing!!! but..... they cost twice as much as the already expense standard vandoren reeds. a pack of normal size 3's are like $15, a pack of size 3 java red reeds are like $30. its worth it though!
the canes can be turned into reeds and sugar (delicious)!
I Watched the entire thing..And I don't even play a instrument.
me too.
So you don’t know the anger that is a cracked reed
@@nathanharter3807 you dont wanna know how many times my reeds crack of bullshit reasons
My little brother once destroyed half of a box with reeds... And that was when I was veeeery short on money. Idk how i got hold of myself to not give him a kick. So feel the pain, folks!
I play trumpet
Saxophone players: why are reeds so expensive???
Double reed players: am I a joke to you?
I clicked on this video just for this comment.
Derio Caido haha yes me to
As did I. Even crappy store bought mass-produced oboe reeds are expensive.
@@JewelBlueIbanez For some reason, band directors just love Jones reeds and makes me upset! 😖
DOUBLE reeds are more than double the price.
The quality of these videos is unreal. Awesome job and thanks for the great videos!
Thank You!
@@bettersax I LOVE Rigotti Reeds, always been my favorite, LOVE you did this tour, BIG thanks Jay.
pec1215
Well said...Here! Here!
Thanks for the great videos!
So can they just send me all the reeds that are about to be composted?
I was thinkin' the same thing.
They could, but that would require them to pack them up and send them to you. Also that would mean that there are imperfect reeds out with customers that don't match their quality standards.
So, I assume the company benefits from reusing those reeds as opposed to sending out to customers that will not get reeds as expected.
HCL991 I wouldnt take them as a customer because it would be free, they dont even have to pack them professionally
They could sell boxes of 25 where 6 work good or sell you a box of 5 where hopefully 5 work and 2 or 3 will be really good
I am a pipe smoker. We don't pay just for the pipe; we pay for the four that failed before the carver got to this one.
I won't feel so bad about paying for these in the future. Really appreciate the effort you went to, to make this video. I have read about the process but the video brings it all home.
Thanks for this and your many other free videos. They all contribute to making me a better sax player.
People: so are you American or French?
Jay: Yes.
Californian......
Born in USA but live in France for many years.
Francoamericaine..
@@bettersax I got lost in the Brittany area last year for about 3 months...the rain never stopped...
He’s a musician. I have never found a group of people with more oddities and quirks than musicians.
I don't even know what reeds are for, I don't even play those instruments, but yeah, I've watched, don't ask me why.
I'm with ya lol
Reeds vibrate when blown on. The shape matters alot and so does materials and deminsion because it's what causes it to vibrate when air passes over. The vibrating airwaves are passed through the neck and into the body
Me 3!!! LoL
Fuzzman was
Out through the horn*
I was a sax player for years in school. I probably tossed out dozens of used and broken reeds without thinking twice about how they were made. Now I'll almost feel bad throwing away any of them at all! This is an amazing video. I have a whole new appreciation for the reeds sitting quietly on my counter, waiting to be played. Thank you.
As a Tenor Sax and Clarinet player I can certainly appreciate this video, even today in 2021.
It's absolutely amazing! The average person does not realize how labor intensive so many aspects of music comprise. The hours of work done by the musician and by those such as the Reed makers remains a mystery to a lot of non musicians and some musicians. Thank you so much for posting this video. I will recommend this to my students.
3:19 There is a bug crawling on the dude’s shirt.
Karrot Cake ok?
No, there's a dude crawling under the bug's shirt!
Everybody and everything needs to be somewhere everywhere. It's perfectly normal. Maybe not common, but normal? Yes.
you ever seen raiders of the lost ark?
I'm a guitarist... but always wondered how reeds were made... now I know. Great job! Thanks!
Thomas Walz , banjo picker, same.
No, they don't double as picks
@johnny102marvin As a flute player, considering the variability of reeds is horrifying to me!
I've really stopped using cane reeds for my tenor, but for my alto's I use Vandoren ZZ 2½'s.
In a box of 10's, one's maybe awesome, 4-5 are fine and the rest I need to file down on this little glass based file that can actually do wonders :)
What file is it? I'm looking into getting one
@@neatopapito8260 It's Vandoren: www.amazon.com/Vandoren-Glass-Reed-Resurfacer-Stick/dp/B0002CZRJ0
feels like a documentary. great quality! Wayyyy underrated
Can I buy a package of the imperfect ones? I won't care!
Right! I don't care about visual imperfections, like spots and spackles. So long as it makes good sound, that's enough for me!
Those get shipped to Rico lol
@@JasonHoningford 👍
I believe other makers are less picky about looks and evenness.
He finally got the bug at 3:35 that was on his shirt since 2:49
thats funny lmfaooo
Yea that was driving me nuts.
omg thank you I thought I was loosing it 😂
Garden Fly
What a fantastic Video. Whenever I visit a factory I'm always surprised how lucky we are that things are so cheap. A hell of a lot of work goes into making stuff and this is a perfect example. Box on order. PS I know that videos take a hell of a lot of time and equipment to make too (plus travel / subsistence costs) so thanks for an excellent job.
play bassoon, then you have the right to complain about cost.
I am also a bassoon player. I started on the oboe in 5th grade and switched to bassoon in 7th. I was taught many years ago by my teacher (not school) how to make them but that was years ago. After a 10 year interlude, I picked it back up and started playing again. I feel sorry for anyone who doesn't play the bassoon. It is the coolest sounding instrument out there except for maybe the contra bassoon. My friends would always look at me weird when a mix tape (cd) I made had some Snoop Dogg and then the next track was of the South Minneapolis Bassoon Quartet. I can still hum along to my favorite track and its been about 20 years since I had it. I am actually going to look for it now to see if its in a box that was saved by my parents and is in my basement of my house. Keep playing Josh, not too many of us out there!!
@@teds5047 I honestly don't know why more people don't play bassoon. In my (very biased, mind you) opinion bassoon is one of the best sounding instruments out there, and it sure is fun as hell to play
Well since bassoons can cost several times more than saxes ($30,000 anyone?)... Not surprised.
@@benjamincoram7036 I tried a bassoon once... Once. 😉
@@alphakky bassoons are nowhere near that much, maybe for super high level ones, but you can get a really good bassoon for under $5000
this isn't a video. *it's a documentary.*
you were my inspiration to start playing saxophone, keep it up!
I would have taken a box of the throwbacks home! 😉
Nick Cedillo 😁
honestly this looks like one of those netflix sponsored exotic foods documentaries and I'm living for it
Any reed worth buying is more expensive lol but now I will know why
The last set of reeds I got where free... they were my lips... I'm a trumpet player...
#4 Medium reed? Wow ! Just hearing that tires out my jaws ! LOL ....
I went all the way up to 4.5 soft in the end.
@@bettersax, Ouch ! Do you know what the approximate comparison to other reeds is? i e, a Vandoren, Rico etc ?
This makes it even crazier that I had an unstamped reed in my last box!
Trevor Hogg perhaps the printer ran out of ink? And they somehow missed it on inspection
C'est vraiment une belle vidéo ! Très intéressant de voir tout ça de près ! Merci pour ce reportage !
The machine we see at 13:23 is something I didn't know anything about: I was believing reeds get their specific strength from some kind of specific lavoration and that's not true 😲
Thanks man, you're great! ❤
Really nice insights Jay.
I did not know you lived in France. Do you still live there?
Moved from The Netherlands to Denmark last year.
Thank you again for the video of this!
All the best to you!
What an incredible video! I'm so cheap, I'm using the same reed I've had for 4 years! Granted, I don't play very often but still! I finally bought ONE new reed and it was 17 euros! Ouch!
What instrument has 17 euro reeds?!
Better Sax Bassoon.
@@bettersax and oboe
@@bettersax double reeds typically cost a lot bc each good Reed has to be hand scraped in intricate and specific locations. It cannot be done well by machine, because each piece of cane is different
The last box of reeds I bought was "Gonzales reeds". They are made in Argentina, they are not the best, but there are not many options in my country. There is a myth that in Latin America they sell us poor quality reeds, and in my experience I think it is true. Even the engraving is usually different within the same brand. what do you think about that?.
Last box i bought was D'addario Reserve #3. Two sucked two were good and one is just awesome
Thanks so much guy, I learning about saxophone your videos it's good. I want a fun story about saxophone.
Excellent job on the video Jay. Very informative and interesting!
Thanks Brian
This was very interesting. Also points to a very asinine way of thinking.
Literally years in the making
Intense process
perfection delivered
$40 a box ($4ea) doesn't seem that expensive to me.
And all the "less-than-perfect" reeds are thrown out? You might as well compost cash.
Lets just say that 1000 reeds didn't make the QA standard. Even at half cost of new, these factory
rejects....which function fine.....you could make $2000. Now that's expensive compost.
Young aspiring Wind players wouldn't care if their reed isn't perfect. These rejects would mean the world
to an impoverished would-be saxophonist.
Interesting point.
Hey Jay! I just purchased a box of tenor sax reeds, 2.5 from The Boston Sax Shop. I have yet to play them, so I don’t know about the quality. But bought them based on your video in which all 5 were excellent. Thanks for the tour. Super fascinating and I am truly amazed at the time and effort required to create these delicate masterpieces.
11:19 Did not expect to see a t-shirt from Knoxville , TN.
Yeah... The chili pepper kinda confused me. It's been 20 years since I lived there, but peppers or spicy food wasn't a big part of the local culture.
Thank you for putting a new face to the world of Saxophones. It's people like you that keep young and aged players interested.
I had my first "gig" last saturday and put myself to the ultamate test not playing saxophone in 11 years.
I jumped WAY out of my comfort zone.
With a months notice and a chinese saxophone,
I played 4 popular songs (with solos) using your crash course and motivating down-to-earth way of just talking about saxophones.
In the end, I had people asking me for my business card.
Laughing as I'm typing, my Girlfriend knows you now as my best friend, and to be honest, In June, YOU WERE!
Thanks a lot and Greetings from an American in Germany!
-Grady Mason II
(P.S. My Chinese mouthpiece and ligature are being replaced by a Yamaha 5c + Rovner 1RL tomorow thanks to Amazon)
Did you wear the white gloves? I just salvaged $199 tenor with Yamaha 5C and Rico 2.5 upgrades.
Fascinating and tells me the process is much more complicated than I expected.
I play the Rigotti Gold Jazz #3. No one stocks them locally so I buy them on line. Last box, 10 out of 10 played great. Well worth the money, they last a long time when you rotate them.
Thanks for info... Rigottis are very consistent.
I can only imagine what the labor was like in the 1900s before these machines automated most of the work. The struggle 😭
DiffOriginal people made their own reeds. Single reed players still make their own reeds. Not to same degree as double reed players, but they do.
Yeah you can make yours. Top players make their reeds esp Oboe players
Dude, steal a handful of those rejected reeds. I bet they work fine.
my thoughts exactly. Sell those to music schools with a discount.
They could just strike-thru their label and sell them as a lower "grade" product
Project DJ Thereby lowering the value of their product.
Fabulous video, Jay! I have use, of late, Green, unfiled Vandorens: Of my latest five, first two are not good. Worse than filed Red Vandorens. They shriek. Are hysterical. I had never heard of Rigotti, and will now try them. Many Thanks for this
I really liked the video and how you put it together,
Keep up the good work :)
thanks!
"This field of cane-really tall grass-will be turned into reeds."
Whoa! This really makes the blade of grass between your thumbs as musical instrument trick, really apropos. I never considered what reeds were made of before I watched this.
looks like regular bamboo?
I always buy aged reed's. I've bought my cane reed's online from, "dealers old-new stock. Aged reed's always play their hearts out. The sound- 50 year old reed's is unbelievable. They also tend to last longer. Now I know why!
Thomas Kipfer , Reeds,keep the apostrophe for another occasion.
Where do you buy your aged reeds from? I'd like to test that out.
I've had the opposite experience. They are so dry, it seems to take days and several sanding sessions to even get the table smooth
Hey Jay,
Thanks for that great video.
The last box(es) of reeds that I purchased:
Rico (Classic, orange box, I could get my hands on some real old boxes from the early 90‘s - now THATS a difference!) 3 Bari - every single reed was awesome!
Hemke 3,5 Soprano (3 our of 5 „ok“, but not great)
And - my favorite:
Ligaphone Jazz Double Profile 3 for Tenor.
5 our of 5 great!
You should check them out some time. Great quality, great cut, great durability, great resistance/attack balance - as I said - my top go to reeds.
Keep your work up, i appreciate all the effort and work you put in those videos.
Fabulous, Jay! So interesting to see the entire process of reed making (and I often buy Rigotti Gold reeds for my tenor sax). Thanks for the quality of your video work! I love the overhead drone views of the fields!
Thanks!
I still have unopened Vandoren reeds box from 1992, time when I was in learning playing sax at school. Great video btw!
Hello meilleur sax , à quand une vidéo en français !.... Super , merci pour tout . A très bientôt .
Cela était moitié en français non?
This video is one of my most favourite videos of you and has brought me on the way to test them. The quality of this reeds is indeed extrem high and they sound wonderful. Despite of that i test anyway different brands: Marca, Gonzalz, Boston Sax Shop,Hemje, etc. .....
**Laughs in oboe**
Marvellous video, thank you Mr. Better Sax!
Great video, thanks!
Q: The reason why bari reeds are more than twice as expensive compared to tenor reeds is it because there are relatively few canes that have the large thickness?
Rigotti is truely a top brand!!! I used to select just 2 or 3 out of a box of 10 that were really good...from the usual brands... with Rigotti I think almost every reed is good! ;)
Me: laughs in oboe
Me: Laughs in Bassoon
Me too
I always keep on saying when I was a child weeds when its suppose to reed
not me but maybe someone else: laughs in cor anglais
Me: laughs in bass
I use Rico reeds -I am 85 yo -just started playing 6 months and just subscribed 1 month ago .I bought 2 boxes 11/2 and 2 in packets of 3 No problem with any so far both Alto and Tenor
Actually one of the best sax themed videos I've seen. Before this I only knew that reeds are made of some kind of bamboo, but I really didn't expect how hard it is to make it, so thanks for teaching me something new. Btw last reeds I've bought were Vandoren 2,5 alto sax ones and they're all great. ❤🎷
Add to production costs, the development, production and maintenance of the machinery, the energy required to keep constant the humidity and temp of production areas.Packaging design, printing, wastage of faulty reeds, Wages..Local taxes other stuff which I missed.
They ain't cheap by the time you open that box.
I can remember when not all 10 were playable. Rarely happens today
WOW! Super high production value!!!
Considering the effort, the price of the cane reeds is not obnoxious. What is obnoxious is the price of Legere and other synthetic reeds. It is obviously artificially high and totally made-up. That is why my money will NEVER go Legere et al.
Reminds me of the Mr. Rogers episode when he goes to the crayon factory to see how crayons are made! Great video!
I purchased a pack of 10 RICO alto sax reeds (size 2.0) back in December of 2015 for about $20 a box. I'm still on my first reed! It's a great reed. I can't tell you about the other nine, since I haven't used them yet. 😉
I don't see why a sax reed won't last for many, many years as long as it's not misused or abused, and it's properly placed back in its plastic sleeve after each use. BTW: I've used this reed on average of two to three days a week, and for about three to four hours a day. 😖 🎷♫
I use Rigotti GOLD Jazz reeds on my alto and they're super - very cool to see the whole process here 👍👍
I bought a box of Vandoren Blue box 2.5 Alto sax reeds because I am a beginner alto player, and 8 are actually good, 2 are really good out of those 8, and 2 of them are really airy and do not respond well. I've got to say though, the alto reeds are was more consistent than the clarinet reeds of the same Vandoren Blue box, but I use strength 3.5 on those and I get about one really good reed per 4 boxes for clarinet reeds, about 2 to 3 good reeds per box, and about 6 to 7 horrible reeds per box that only can be saved by the ReedGeek (which I have yet to purchase. I currently work my reeds using 900 grit, 1500 grit, and 8000 grit sandpaper cloths because I find that I don't have to be as cautious with the higher grit levels as I do with the lower ones I have tried in the past and the ReedGeek. I really didn't know how to use the ReedGeek at the time thought because I only got to try one when I was about a beginner at clarinet and didn't play alto at the time. My band teacher used to tell me at that time, "ReedGeek is a waste of time and if you want to double on Alto Sax, you might as well double on Alto clarinet; it will save you much trouble." I very much disagree now because I believe the ReedGeek is an amazing investment that I would like to get one day after the coronavirus is neutralized and it is safer to go out and buy things. As for the Alto Clarinet vs Alto Sax, Alto Clarinet reeds are a lot less common than Alto Sax reeds, and with good folks like Rigotti making such good reeds, I don't see why investing in a $100 beginner saxophone that sounds pretty decent is a bad idea. That plus the fact that the Alto Sax has a whole lot more variety of music to play. I am not saying the Alto Clarinet is bad, I love playing it when I get the chance to get my hands on one and it is such an amazing instrument, but for a band kid who really didn't know what he was doing, I would say that the Alto sax was a good investment when I bought it because now, when I finally picked it up, it is so easy to just whip out and play, swab, shine up, and put right back. That and this amazing channel's super effective video on how to set up your embouchre is so helpful because I got discouraged and thought my sax was leaking simply because I was trying to use a much tighter clarinet embouchre on an alto saxophone, and as someone who plays in the higher altissimo range on clarinet a LOT, my embouchre was far too high to produce a good sound on Alto.
All in all, for those of you who have read thus far, thank you so much, and thank you, Jay, for producing such wonderful content for all of us Sax players to become Better at Sax. You really have impacted my life in such a huge was and I really appreciate that.
Reeds So Expensive! WHY, because EVERYTHING is a ripoff today!!
I"m using Rigotti's since a few years now. The best reeds I've ever used. But I've one question: can they put them in carton instead of plastics ? There's already far too much plastics in this world........
Unbelievable how complex the process is, and the machinery. I figured they were farmed, stored and aged in a warehouse, and then processed in a factory, but there's so much more involved. Can only imagine how surreal the tour experience must have been.
I tried some Rigotti Gold tenor reeds recently, but found the 2.5s much too soft for my Meyer 6 or Vandoren Java. T55. After watching this video I would like to give them another try, maybe someone has some suggestions?
Very interesting, fantastic presentation of a reed factory. I just picked up a small box of Rico #2.5 reeds for $6.99. I play classical guitar and it being a solo instrument, lonely. So I cracked out my old alto sax from 1974, re-padded it, now I am off to local bands (concert) for auditions. Thanks for the online info that you have, I am not great but the chops are coming back!
Great video. Explains a lot. But why Greensleeves in the background music? It's an old English folk song supposed to have been written by Henry 8th.
Good... now I don’t need to reed the book version, as the movie really trimmed the edges and cut down the blanks
Like many viewers, I tend to take TH-cam content a bit for granted. I grunt at the adverts and skip introductions. This video was just great, though. Made me sit up and think about what it takes to produce something like this. And, since I spend a lot of my time on the Riviera and have always wondered whether I could make decent reeds out of the cane that grows everywhere, I'll definitely leave it to the professionals-and maybe visit the factory. Thanks.
I still have a vandoran tenor mouth piece and leather ligature in my spare drawer. I've watched some of your videos to include some of the student model altos. Awesome channel boss, you inspire people.
You know, I was just watching this video again while eating some celery and it occurred to me that reeds and celery are very similar in structure...to that end, you can buy a bunch of celery and no two stalks from the same bunch will taste or crunch the same...much like reeds...food for thought...literally.
I've always played on Rigotti and probably always will. I do find like vintages of wine, reed quality does change. Perhaps it is the cane is harvested. perhaps some years better than others. I really don't know. As a result, I buy my different reed types all at the same time until I find a good batch, then I order more . It's hit and miss but he usually pays off and then I am well supplied
ultimately the cost is in the margins.
A single reed could net them probably a 100 boxes (judging by the size) and they could even sell the "discarded" stuff under another brand name.
The fact that people pay them for a box as much as they pay is the reason they can keep that pricepoint.
If people stopped paying for the premium stuff, the premium stuff just would get cheaper.
With the amount of time and work which goes into each reed it doesn't feel like $20 for 10 clarinet reeds or $40 for 10 sax reeds is all that expensive any more.
what a waste to some of the cane cut just because it is esthetically ugly. they can simply use it to make a new product line of economy priced reeds right?
i would have loved buying 'blems' when i was in high school.
I’ve seen numerous videos on reed making but this by far is my favorite and certainly the one I learned the most from. Was already a fan of their reeds.