Recommended Equipment

Proper equipment is essential to achieve success on any musical instrument.

REEDS

Clarinet

  • First year
    • Vandoren Traditional strength 2.5
  • Second year
    • Vandoren Traditional strength 2.5-3
  • Third year
    • Vandoren Traditional strength 3-3.5
  • Fourth year +
    • Vandoren Traditional or Vandoren V12 strength 3.5-4

Saxophone

  • Years 1-2
    • Vandoren Traditional strength 2.5
  • Years 3-4+
    • Vandoren Traditional strength 3-3.5

MOUTHPIECES

Clarinet

  • Years 1-2
    • Yamaha 4C
    • Fobes Debut
  • Years 3+
    • Vandoren M13 or M13 lyre
  • High school All-State students may try out a myriad of different mouthpieces (other vandorens, mouthpieces made custom, etc)

Saxophone

  • Years 1-3
    • Yamaha 4C
  • Years 3+
    • Selmer C*

LIGATURES

Clarinet

  • Bonade Inverted Clarinet Ligature
  • Vandoren MO Black Ligature
  • NOT the Rovner or Jewel standard ligature (the rubber muffles the sound)

INSTRUMENTS

Clarinet

  • Beginning students (typically years 1-3)
    • Yamaha, Selmer, Buffet, Backun, and Jupiter all make decent beginning instruments. Other makes may break more easily, causing costly repairs (read: they won’t hold up to the student mishandling the instrument due to lack of experience).
    • Backun Alpha
  • Intermediate students (typically district honor band level)
    • Once the student has fundamentals in place and can appropriately handle the instrument, he or she may advance to a wooden instrument for improved tone, intonation, and response in the upper register. These instruments are typically around $1200+.
    • Yamaha 450 or 650
    • Buffet E11/E12/E13
  • Advanced students (high school honor band level and beyond)
    • Students who are competitive and/or pursue a music degree in college will greatly benefit from a professional level instrument.
    • Yamaha 650 or CSVR
    • Buffet R13 (there are many professional varieties of this instrument)
    • Backun Protege (and more)

Bass Clarinets and Saxophones

  • Selmer and Yamaha are the two most recommended names in these instruments.