VENN vs Legere | Which is the best synthetic sax reed

Have you tried synthetic saxophone reeds? If you want to know which is the best synthetic sax reed, this video is for you!

In this synthetic reed review, I compare Légère Signature reeds with the new D’Addario Venn reeds.
If you’re wondering which reeds to buy, I answer questions such as how long synthetic reeds last, value for money, sound, and more.

I share why I’m a fan of synthetic reeds for my saxophones, and why I prefer them to cane reeds.
Your synthetic reed questions are answered – I hope this video helps you.
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Chapters:
0:00 - About this lesson
1:02 - Why learn about these reeds?
2:36 - PROs of VENN reeds
4:54 - CONs of VENN reeds
7:37 - Price of VENN vs Légère
8:34 - The Demos
10:03 - Wrapping Up!
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[McGillMusicSaxSchool]

Hope you find this useful - don't forget there's loads of free saxophone resources on my blog (link above).

[DJsilversax]

You can adjust Legere reeds by dipping them in boiling water for 1 sec to soften them. You also get an exchange with every Legere Reed (up to 5 a year). So even if the reed is too soft to start with you can exchange it for a harder strength.

[thomaslahnala]

I mark the tip of my legere reeds with a permanent marker, red works well, to help me contrast the reed with the mouthpiece for alignment.

[KadrianThomas]

Great video, Sir Nigel. Thanks for sharing. I haven’t tried a Venn Reed yet, I will because of you. I haven’t had any problems aligning my Legere reeds because of them being transparent. I’ve found that Legere reeds are great! However, you have to have some patience. Everyone one wants to find a reed that’s just perfect without any effort, that’s not always possible. It took me a few months getting used to Legere reeds, afterwards it’s a no brainer. After playing Legere reeds for a year or more I decided to go back to trying cane reeds, I tried a couple brands too. The results were nightmarish. I went back to wasting 45 minutes just trying to find a reed that would play from my low Bb into the altissimo range. In under a minute I can easily set up and start playing with Legere reeds. I’ll still try other reeds, but for now, Legere reeds have got all my needs covered. Another thing I’ve found with Legere reeds is that after they are sort of worn, put them away for a month or two then play them again and it’s like magic, they play even sweeter.

[Garyola]

I have been playing on the Legere American Cut for about 2 months. I really like. I found the 2.5 just a tad soft for my Jody Jazz Custom Dark 7*. Totally playable but I think I will order a 2.75. I picked up a Venn 2.5 and it took some time to get with it. It also hurt my mouth. It was very sharp on the edge. So with some sanding I got it to feel better. But Venn and I just don't get along all that well. I went back to Legere and I think I will stay there.

[scamphoney]

Thank you for the very informative video, i play Harry Hartmann reeds, and i am very satisfied with the results.🙂

[waffleman]

I'm new to synthetic reeds, but I personally like the Venn more than the Legere, but I got the American cut not the Signature. I went for the Venn 2.5 since I read how much stronger they are and its the perfect fit for me and I feel it sounds more like a reed and has more body in sound. I got a Legere American cut around 2.75 and to me its a lot weaker than what I wanted even though I used the strength chart. The Legere felt more bright but in a buzzy kind of way so I might try to get a 3 or 3.25 to try it one more time.

[DynamixWarePro]

From all the videos I have seen on the new Venn reeds, they all sounded a bit too bright and buzzy for my tastes. With the strength being higher on the Venn reeds, it reminded me of trying Forestone white Bamboo synthetic reeds. I had the opposite issue with them, all strengths were too soft for me. I play Legere Signature reeds on alto and depending on the mouthpiece, on soprano sax either Legere European Cut clarinet 3.0 reeds on my Selmer Concept or other mouthpieces I either use American Cut 2.75 or Signature reeds 2.5 to 2.75.

[cleverdicky]

I am trying synthetic reeds for the first time, I, m using Venn at the moment and the great thing with the Venn reeds at the moment is that they are doing a replacement reed if you find that the one you ordered is either too soft or too hard and you get to keep the one you already bought and they send you another one of a different strength. Great or what :)

[BrendanRoss]

Hey Nigel. Yeah, the see-through legere made it a nightmare for me too. So much so that I gave up on them. I might have experimented longer otherwise.

[maloneap]

Very informative. I have played legere on, both sax and clarinet. I did not know about Venn reeds.

[pmwizard]

I also play Legere 21/2 tenor signature in a community band.

[GetYourSaxTogether]

Interesting. Thanks Nigel. I’ve got a bunch to review too at some stage. I guess I never thought of the Venn as bright- don’t know why, but yeh, they do sound brighter in the test. Tell you what though, I recorded a thing recently for my channel, and when I A/B-d the Venn with a cane, there was still no comparison in the studio. I was pretty gutted about that actually!!!

[schreds]

I know this is a sax channel but wanted to chime in on the Venn reeds. I'm a clarinet player and I've been using the Legere European for a couple of years now. I've tried both the first and 2nd gen Venn and I agree, whatever strength you play on the Legere, subtract at least 1. I play the 3.0 Legere and D'Addario recommended the 2.5 Venn. Way too much. I should have gone with a 2. Honestly, though, I think I'll stick with the Legere. I know the Legere and while it is hard to line it up on the mouthpiece, it's just comfortable to play.

[presequel]

internering video! I play American cut 3, 5 for almost 2 years and could pick up the legere easy in your video :) I am willing to try the Venn, seems like an interesting option.

[waynebayes]

Interestingly, I had a different experience. The Legere's have been brighter than Venns. Altissimo is also more consistent on the Venn. This is after a struggling to find the right strength Venn, which was easier on Legere. I haven't worked with reedgeek or anything, so that is still to come.

[jnmkkmnj]

It’s complicated!
In order to compensate for my severe hearing loss I sent this via Bluetooth to my hearing aids which were set to the music mode. For me your playing on the Venn has more punch and yet gives off a more centered richness. I do detect a slight buzz in the higher range. I purchased two of these for my tenor and for my alto in both 2.5 and 2.0 strengths. The 2.5 was way too much for me with my Theo Wanne /Sig 7 mouthpiece. The 2.0 were just right. Until I saw your video I was not aware that these could be altered. I will give that a try. What is really interesting is that when I posted The Masquerade on the sax school website people told me that I had a dark smoky sound and that they really liked. You may have not heard my rendition but if you ever give it a listen you might notice that it does influence the way I sound. Of course that happened to be the type of sound I was seeking for the nature of this tune and I find it that for a more traditional jazz standard I get again a different sound from these Venn reeds. I align the Legere reeds by touch as much as sight!

[clarinetninja]

I played Legere's for a year - on two occasions. The deal breaker for me was that one reed to the next was not all that consistent. I would have to try three or four to find one that played the way I wanted. Additionally (Maybe I am careless), any bend to the legere would render it unplayable. It's one thing to have a cane reed broken (as a cane reed player will always have more ready for action) but having a legere get bumped on the gig was a really big deal to me as I didn't always have another Legere that felt like the one I was playing. The Venn was a complete misfire for me. I found it edgy and inflexible (all this talk is of clarinet reeds BTW). It was disappointing, because I generally like D'addrio products.

Anyway - this was killer content. I was happy to see it and admire your playing and how you go about presenting the topic and making the video.

[WorkinSteamin]

I liked the legere sound but really dislike the see- through design. It's so hard to fit them correctly, especially in dark venues. So I'm still with Fibracell but will investigate Venn. Thanks

[jamescps]

I only enjoy cane reed and it can bring satisfaction to my practice and playing.