Saxtastic Saxophone: Forestone Reeds Review

These days, synthetic reeds are a love-hate relationship. You either love 'em or hate 'em. But with advancing technology in our every growing society, companies like Forestone Reeds (pronounced "forest-tone") can help produce better synthetics and hopefully get more musicians to like synthetics. Read the review below on how Forestone is the future of reed production.

First Impressions: When I first saw this reed, I immediately noticed the packaging. In Japan, appearance of items and aesthetics are big factors in the production of items. The elegant black box features a metallic sticker logo and a shiny imprint of "Forestone reeds: Bamboo Sound Reflection." It also featured a paint-splatter like design over parts of the box and the Forestone logo on the back. Pulling off the sticker, the top of the box opened up to two interlocking tabs labeled with "Bamboo Sound Reflection" and some Japanese characters which turned out to be a haiku by Matsuo Basho (see link). I found this interesting and fun to integrate a haiku in Japanese with a link to their site to increase visits to their site. Finally, after opening the tabs, I saw the two reeds, each in it's own paper sleeve.

Design: Forestone Reeds is a Japanese company that prides themselves in their reeds. These reeds are the future of synthetics because of the materials used and the process needed to make them. Forestone uses a mixture of polypropylene resin, a durable plastic polymer, and cellulose wood fiber. A majority of this wood fiber is bamboo, which gives it more of a cane reed sound. The reed has a tan color and is tasteless and can be stored on the mouthpiece when not played because it will not warp. The uniqueness of Forestone reeds is that they are made through injection-molding. Unlike other synthetics that cut their reeds with a machine to acquire each strength, Forestone takes their resin and wood fiber mixture and inject it into a mold to create uniformity every time. Also, Forestone reeds can be played right out of the package without soaking. Because they do not absorb moisture, these reeds will outlast traditional cane reeds but will provide the sound of a cane because of it's materials.

Cost:
$24.95/reed for all saxophones
$22.95/reed for Bb Clarinet
Plus if you buy two or more reeds, you get one free!
*Note: If you are a teacher or band director, you can order a special trial pack of seven reeds for $69.95
Orders can be placed here

Pros:

Easily outlast your existing cane reeds
Produce the sound of a cane reed
These reeds are very free-blowing and make me feel like I'm playing a cane with the durability of a synthetic
Overall, these reeds will pay for themselves with the amount of time they last

Cons:

May take a while to get used to

Rating: 5/5 stars
When I first played this reed, I was surprised how much it sang! It was very free-blowing and helped me with my altissimo. It was also tasteless so you wouldn't have a strange taste in your mouth every time you wanted to play this reed. The packaging was very cool also. Overall, this is an awesome products that may not be well known, but is definitely worth every penny. Check out Forestone Reeds today!