Description
These Chartier Synthetic bassoon reeds come in three strengths, soft, medium soft and medium. As a synthetic reed, they look pleasingly like a cane reed with acrylic thread binding and copper wire. Made in the USA.
In our play-testing we found them easy to play with a light tone. They played reasonably in tune for most of the scale with a tendency to be flatter rather than sharp, which can be remedied with bocal position if needed. Their tone is not as full and complex as the sound from a cane reed and the tuning took a little adjusting. It’s important to keep these differences in mind if you are used to playing on a cane reed.
We suggest the use of these for the following reasons:
- Ideal for student instrument tryouts. This is because they can be sanitised thoroughly and easily. The synthetic material is less porous than cane, therefore they are less likely to harbor bacterial microbes. They can be placed in warm / hot water and can be fully immersed in sanitising liquid. Perfect for year 5 and year 7 music programs.
- Ideal for extreme weather conditions. A reed made of natural cane will react to very cold, very hot or very humid conditions in unknown and unplanned ways. The synthetic reed is less temperamental in extreme or changeable conditions. Ideal for travelling and touring and when performing outside.
- Ideal for doubling instrumentalists. There is less need to pre-soak and warm-up a synthetic reed. This makes them ideal for changing instruments quickly when doubling / reading a multi-instrumental reed book.
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