Vandoren

File:Vandoren Paris.jpg

Vandoren is a well known manufacturer of mouthpieces and reeds for woodwind instruments. Vandoren's products are used by professionals and amateurs around the world.

History

Since 1905, the Van Doren family has been making reeds and mouthpieces. It all began with Eugene Van Doren, who was a clarinetist at the Paris Opera during the Belle Epoque at the end of the 19th century. It was a time when wind players made their own reeds, with greater or lesser degrees of success. Eugene Van Doren must have had the knack: his reeds sounded so good that his colleagues prevailed upon him to sell some of them.

Making reeds by hand is a long and tedious business. In order to save time, Eugene, a skillful and gifted engineer, designed and built a special reed-making machine, treadle-operated in the same way as a sewing machine. The reeds he made with this machine in the dining room of his home in the rue Andre del Sarte were immediately successful, and in 1905 (the year his son was born) he founded a reedmaking business at 51 rue Lepic, which soon took up more of his time than playing clarinet.

His son Robert also studied clarinet, graduating from the Paris Conservatoire. He considered a performing career, and in 1928 left France for a year-long tour of the United States during which he drew attention for the beauty of his tone. He was one of the first French clarinetists to perform as a soloist at Radio City Music Hall in New York. It was during this tour that American musicians first discovered Vandoren reeds, and since then their popularity in the United States has skyrocketed.

As the company grew, Robert Van Doren, like his father, found himself devoting more time to making reeds than to his performing career. He soon took over management of the company and in 1935 bought a vacant lot at 56 rue Lepic, Vandoren's present address. It was about this time than Robert Van Doren started selling a mouthpiece he has developed, the famous 5RV still so popular with professional musicians today.

In 1967, Robert's son Bernard, blessed with his grandfather's mechanical genius, joined the company, bringing a third generation into the family business. A range of mouthpieces was developed under his guidance, the basic model being the B45, which soon became as familiar as the 5RV. Applying the same manufacturing principles as his father and grandfather, Bernard Van Doren developed highly sophisticated machines which have made it possible to reduce manufacturing tolerances to less than one hundredth of a millimeter while allowing output to increase tenfold.

For several years now, all of Vandoren's manufacturing facilities have been maintained in supervised hygrometric conditions. This revolutionary advance, combined with refined grading techniques, allows continued improvement in selection by strength and optimization of product quality. In order to preserve this quality, Vandoren developed factory fresh Flow Pack packaging that maintains reeds as fresh as if just picked from the factory.

The factory is situated in Bormes-Les-Mimosas[1] in the south of France, near the reed fields.

Vandoren's offices in Paris (56 rue Lepic) offer visiting musicians from France and elsewhere test facilities, practice rooms, and the Espace Partitions, a specialty sheet music store for clarinet and saxophone.

Vandoren has professionals from all over the world play-test the products to ensure that they meet with Vandoren's high standards.

• information from "A Culture of Mouthpieces and Reeds."

Mouthpieces

The mouthpiece begins with a "blank." These blanks are molded from an extremely hard material obtained from rubber, called ebonite.

The outside shaping of the mouthpiece is done on an automatic forming lathe specially designed for Vandoren[2]. It is crucial to locate the exact center of the mouthpiece when using the lathe. Each model is individually checked for appearance and precise dimensions following each step.

Each mouthpiece is polished to a brilliant finish. Then, the grinding of the facing begins. From this moment forward, the mouthpieces are sorted into families. Next, the clarinet mouthpieces receive their cork. Carefully selected cork is used to ensure both durability and precision.

The final adjustment of the facing is done by staged diamond cutting tools. The tolerances of 4/10,000 of an inch (1/100mm) are so small that, to maintain precision, the table is not polished.

Each mouthpiece is hand finished at the baffle, walls, and tip rail. Master craftsmen finish and adjust each mouthpiece to surpass the most critical examinations of professional musicians.

The mouthpieces are polished on last time (except the facing area) to eliminate marks and imperfections. The Vandoren name is then stamped in gold on the mouthpiece along with the model number.

Professional musicians test mouthpieces for quality, sound, and pitch.

The mouthpieces are checked one last time and then packaged to be shipped worldwide.

• information from "A Culture of Mouthpieces and Reeds."

Ligatures

Vandoren V12 Reed and Optimum Ligature.

For a number of years, Vandoren have manufactured ligatures, both of the flexible (leather) and metal variety.

Vandoren Reeds

In the heart of the Var in southern France, the Van Doren family has been growing Arundo Donax for three generations. Arundo Donax is also called "music cane" by the natives of Provence.

There are many important factors to consider when growing cane: the specific qualities of the soil, hygrometry, the climate, a generous sun, and the wind, which brings the cane to life, not to mention the experience and know-how of the people that grow it with passion.

It takes four long years of care and attention to bring cane to the point where it can bear the prestigious name of Vandoren. Cane is grown from rhizomes, and in the first year the cane reaches its final size and diameter. At the end of the second year, after gaining its body and strength, it is ready for harvesting.

The cane is delicately cut with shears designed to avoid bursting the fibers; it is cut by hand in the tradition of the old journeyman carpenters. The harvest is carried out while the moon is descending, when the sap is utterly still.

The cane is bundled and sent to Vandoren's protected and ventilated warehouse for processing. It is then stripped, cut into 6 foot sticks, and put out in the sun to take on that golden color that sometimes leaves brown marks. The cane is re-bundles and sent to Vandoren's protected and ventilated warehouse to dry for another two years before manufacture begins. Once the cane is ready for manufacture, the first cut is made. The first cut produces the rough shape in preparation for transformation into reeds. These rough shapes are beveled to an accuracy in the order of 4/10,000 of an inch (1/100mm), following mechanical models created by Bernard Van Doren, whose knowledge, passed along for three generations, makes it possible to combine an endless number of lines and curves.

Mr. Van Doren gives this little piece of cane a soul, which one day will be able to express itself through the musician's talent.

Every cane has its own character, by which the strength of the reed is determined. No two pieces of cane can be identical due to the nature of this organic product. After the final inspection by trained craftsmen, the reed is stamped with the Vandoren logo and it strength. It is placed in a protective cover (which is recyclable) and then wrapped in a Flow Pack packaging.

Reeds are manufactured in a humidity controlled environment for an optimum quality when leaving the factory. To avoid damaging reeds due to variations in humidity (during transportation and storage for example), Vandoren developed revolutionary individual packaging to maintain each reed as perfectly and for as long as possible, in the condition in which it left the factory. This is the "factory fresh" concept. Now, each reed reaches the musician in a state of remarkable freshness.

• information from "A Culture of Mouthpieces and Reeds."

Clarinet Reeds

Traditional Clarinet reeds

Traditional reeds are the most widely played style of reed.[3] They are available in strengths from 1 to 5 and are available for Bb, Ab, Eb, Alto and Bass clarinets. They are made with a tip thickness of 0.09 mm heel thickness of 2.8 mm. [4] Traditionals are known for their excellent response in all registers, and maintain a richness of tone that gives body and clarity to the sound, which is a hallmark of Vandoren reeds.

V12 reeds

Vandoren V12 reeds are produced from the thicker cane that is used to make saxophone reeds. At the tip, V12 reeds have a thickness of 0.10 mm, and at the heel they have a thickness of 3.15 mm. The V12 reeds come in strengths from 2.5 to 5+ and are only available for Bb clarinet. These strengths don't correspond to those of Vandoren Traditional reeds (a strength 4 V12 has a similar hardness to a strength 3.5 Traditional reed).[5] The longer pallet of this reed means that more of the reed is vibrating, resulting in a deeper/richer sound, and the thicker tip gives body to the attack.

56 rue Lepic reeds

The 56 rue Lepic reeds are named after the address of the Vandoren central offices on 56 rue Lepic, Paris. The 56 rue Lepic reeds come from thicker cane with a heel taper very similar to German-style reeds. At the tip, 56 rue Lepic reeds have a thickness of 0.11 mm, and at the heel they have a thickness of 3.25 mm. [6] These reeds emit a rich, centered, and extremely pure sound while providing maximum stability and quick response in all registers. The strengths graduations are smaller and more specific (2.5, 3, 3.5, 3.5+, 4, 4.5, and 5) and are only available in Bb clarinet.

German reeds

Vandoren also manufactures reeds for the German system (Oehler) mouthpieces. The White Master and Black Master reeds are designed for German and Austrian clarinet players, respectively. Black masters have a larger and thicker cut than White Master reeds. The While and Black Master reeds are only available for Bb clarinet.

Saxophone reeds

Like clarinet reeds, Vandoren saxophone reeds come in a variety of styles. The most basic is the Traditional reed, which is very similar to the Traditional clarinet reed. Vandoren also makes the Java reed, which is for jazz playing (Java stands for jazz Vandoren). In 1993, Vandoren began making the V16 reeds, also for jazz, which have a thicker tip and a longer pallet than the Javas. [7] The newest type of Vandoren saxophone reed is the ZZ, intended for jazz.[8]

External links

• Vandoren company website