Would a plastic reed be better for marching than a wood/cane??? i need a reed that will make me play really loud. Thanks for the help.

sure, my section leader (graduating though, then it'll be me, yes!) uses plasticover ricos for marching, they play more consistantly when marching, and last long, wespecially considering the damage talken during marching. I have a plasic reed, emerald reeds I think, and it's really loud and obnoxious, I use it sometimes for marching or if I want to be annoying in band (trumpets, peesh.)

I play bari. so is that good??? my teacher doesn't like them for regular playing, but he didn't say anything about marching. so do i go for one or not???

in a box, do you still have "good reeds" and "bad reeds like you do in normal boxes???

you never used cane reeds even when you started playing???

in a box of cane reeds, you will have good reeds that play perfectly and they always play right,

then there is bad reeds that don't play right, and or warped. those are the bad ones.

ohh see the cane ones, are a pain in the butt!!! you have to go through all of them and see what they do, then you have to play them and all that. hate having to go through them all. how much does it cost for a box of plastic bari reeds??? and about how long do they last???

wow thats a lot... well i guess not all that much when you think about it, since a normal bari reed is 4 bucks a piece.

i had this one reed that i played on all year. but i switched a little.

for plastics, do you need to switch them like you are supposed to for cane???

Hey, a trick for you guys talking about the differing reeds in a box:

If you hold a reed up to a light, you know all those little lines that are on it?

in the top middle of the reed, on the tip, if there are lines there, then the reed is good.

If there is a space in the middle with no lines, then the reed is bad.


A good Idea is to ask the person you are buying reeds from if you can pick the reeds out. Then you can have a box of 10 perfect reeds.

ive heard about that,but have never put it into practice my self. will they actually let you???

Yeah, I used a plastic reed during marching band for a couple of years until I had to play some mic'd solos and needed a better sound. Just make sure that you have a solid embouchure because the notes bend very easily with a plastic reed and can cause intonation problems. But you'll definitely wanna give it up for concert season.

I think it might be a good idea to use a plastic reed for marching. They are generally good for big instuments and are usually made a bit thicker than cane reeds. I would recommend Legere plastic ones. I think they make the best (for bari., anyway). I use Vandoren cane for clarinet, alto sax, and tenor sax. For bari I use plastic.

If you used plastic reeds and I were your band director, I would personally slap you back to the first grade. First of all, a plastic reed does not make you play louder, who told you that? It does help you play out of tune. Second of all, they do not help in developing embouchure muscles. And third of all, who said a saxophone was supposed to be loud in a marching band? The saxophone will be your least heard instrument in that setting unless you have about fifty or sixty to balance a good brass and upper wind section. You will hear clarinets and definitely flute and piccolos over your saxophone section. Just fill in some chords on your cane reeds and you will get your chance to shine in jazz or concert band. k?

You should post on http://www.saxophoneforum.com/

why, was I too ofensive? lol

Probably already answered, but,...

USE PLASTIC REEDS ON A BARI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They sound great (at least Legere's do), and they last a long time! You never have to wet them. I used cane for the longest time. Now I wish I had found out about plastic earlier! It's worth the $15-20! They sound great AND you can play loud!!!!!

I commend you for marching w/ a bari!