Instrument Information

REEDS

All woodwinds should have a minimum of three reeds in rotation at all times meaning they are broken in and playable. Students should have extra reeds in case of emergencies, so total they should have a total of four to five reeds in their case at all times.

Clarinets & Saxophones

Clarinets and Saxophones should play on Vandoren Blue Box Reeds. Do not purchase Rico reeds. They are of inferior quality. Vandorens do cost slightly more, but are well worth the investment. You can go to a local music store with a friend and purchase a box of reeds together and split the cost.

Clarinet Vandoren Blue Box Reeds

Bass Clarinet Vandoren Blue Box Reeds

Alto Saxophone Vandoren Blue Box Reeds

Tenor Saxophone Vandoren Blue Box Reeds

Baritone Saxophone Vandoren Blue Box Reeds

Oboes & Bassoons

If you need to purchase Oboe or Bassoon reeds, purchase from Edmund Nielsen Woodwinds. Purchase medium or medium hard strength reeds. Do not go to a local music store and purchase Jones reeds. The reeds produced by Edmund Nielsen are of a higher quality and will produce a better sound.

MOUTHPIECES

A mouthpiece can significantly impact the way you play. Investing a small amount of money into a good mouthpiece and putting it on an ok instrument will do you much more than investing a lot of money into a great instrument and using an ok mouthpiece.

Mouthpieces students should be playing on at the high school level (intermediate to advanced players):

Clarinet: Vandoren 5RV

Bass Clarinet: Vandoren B40

Saxophone: Selmer C* - Alto - Tenor - Baritone

Trumpet: Vincent Bach 3C (Be aware cornet mouthpieces are a different size. Figure out if you are playing a cornet or trumpet.)

French Horn: Holton Farkas

​Trombone: Schilke 51 D (Make sure you know what the bore size your instrument is, small or large.)

Baritone/Euphonium: Schilke 51D

Tuba: Hellberg 120 7B

INSTRUMENTS

If you a planning on purchasing an instrument, consult your band director and or your private instructor first. There are a lot of things to consider when purchasing a new instrument, so make sure you do your research before spending a lot of money. First and foremost, never buy instruments from a non-Music store (i.e. Walmart) and avoid eBay and Craigslist if possible. If the price seems to good to be true, it almost always is. Usually instruments on eBay or Craigslist are an inferior brand or in poor condition.

Flute: Yamaha, Gemeinhardt

Oboe: Fox

Bassoon: Fox

Clarinet: Yamaha, Buffet

Saxophones: Yamaha, Selmer

Trumpet: Yamaha Xeno, Bach Stradivarius

French Horn: Holton

Trombone: Yamaha

Baritone/Euphonium: Yamaha

Tuba: Yamaha, Miraphone, Conn

MUTES

As you progress through high school and college, brass players will see more and more pieces calling for different mutes. There is no need to buy every single mute out there. It is best to purchase the mutes as they come up, and that will spread out the cost. Trumpet players will have the most mutes of all of the brass players. Always invest in a quality mute. We DO NOT recommend AT ALL purchasing the Humes and Berg cardboard mutes. They have poor sound quality and will deteriorate quickly forcing you to make another mute purchase.

Trumpets

-Straight Mute: Dennis Wick (Every trumpet player at the high school level should own a good straight mute.)

-Cup Mute: Dennis Wick (Comes up occasionally in the concert and jazz setting)

-Plunger: No need to buy anything special. Buy the $5 plunger without a handle from Home Depot or Lowes. (Most likely will only come up in jazz)

-Harmon or Bubble Mute: Jo-Ral Copper (Most likely will only come up in a jazz band setting)

Trombone

-Straight Mute: Dennis Wick

-Cup Mute: Dennis Wick

French Horn

-Straight Mute: Recommendation Coming Soon

-Stop Horn Mute: Recommendation Coming Soon

Euphonium/Baritone Mute:No need to own one until college if at all. Probably only need to purchase one in college if you are going into euphonium performance.

Tuba Mute: No need to own one until college if at all. Probably only need to purchase one in college if you are going into tuba performance.

PERCUSSION

Percussion students use school provided percussion equipment, but they should be supplying their own sticks, mallets, and certain other pieces of equipment.

PERCUSSION KIT

All beginning percussion students will need to get a percussion kit. There are a wide variety of kits that contain similar items, and some kits contain more items than others. At minimum, a percussion kit should contain the following:

• Carrying case for all gear (some have backpack straps or wheels)

• Practice pad

• Bell kit

• Stand for the practice pad and/or the bell kit (some kits have a single stand for both items)

• Snare drum sticks (for practice pad)

• Plastic mallets (for bell kit)