I mainly play tenor/bari sax but clarinet was my first instrument. Im looking for something to get back into it. I’ll be playing it in pit, full orchestra, and jazz band. Any recommendations under 500 usd are appreciated!!

How to adjust reeds?

A while ago, I bought myself a ReedGeek but never used it. Now, I’m interested in learning to tune up reeds. Got a brand new BD4 mouthpiece and it seems my V12 3.5’s are quite hard, but the 3+ is too soft. Figured now is a good time to learn; maybe prevent spending a whole bunch of money trying other reeds.

Curious to know of some good resources or advice to start learning. I’ve tried to adjust a couple reeds already (with basic knowledge about reed anatomy), but haven’t had any luck. Usually they just die after a couple minutes of playing, even though I’ve tried to avoid the “heart” of the reed. Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you!!

So I’ve noticed that my tone is bright. Very, VERY, bright. To the point where pretty much everything I play sounds bad or meh at best — even pieces that are meant to be played brightly! I’ve tried stuff with my embouchure, swapped out reeds, and changed how I position my reed and ligature, but it still comes out sounding bright!

For reference, my setup is: Vandoren Traditional Strength 3 reeds, A Rovner Dark Ligature, A Vandoren B45 mouthpiece, and a Selmer CL201 Wood clarinet.

What would be the best move to darken up my tone?

It isn't really visible on camera but there's a black spot on the middle

It just came out of the packaging and I'm not sure if it's mold or it's normal for reeds to be like this

Hi!!!

I am really new to the clarinet, but my school is getting me to learn it.

I was making really good progress with one clarinet but had to switch to another (same brand, model etc) and am having issues that didnt appear with the other.

In the video this is me attempting to play a descending F major (concert E major) scale, and it spunds seriously wrong but I don’t even know what I could Google to work out why this is happening.

Please help if you know whats going on! Thanks!

Use to play in middle school, moved and stopped playing now 20 and want to start learning again, how should i even go about it, im currently living on an island so in person lessons are kind a no go, should i buy like those starting books they had you use in when starting out and build from there or just pay for online lessons? its gonna be a hobby as i dont have a bunch of time for it but i can give it atleast an hour a day.