Forestone Hinoki Alto Saxophone Reed M

The Hinoki alto saxophone reeds are made with a hybrid material designed to outlast traditional cane. With projection and intonation, you’ll find they play with excellent articulation.

Material
The Forestone material is a mixture of polypropylene resin and cellulose wood fiber. More than 50 percent of the wood fiber used is bamboo. The material is brownish in color, tasteless, odorless and non-toxic. The exceptional sound, resilience and flexibility of Forestone reeds is due to this special material.

Fabrication
Forestone reeds are made by proprietary injection molding developed in Japan. This results in reeds with optimally smooth vamps that are exceptionally uniform and consistent from reed to reed.

Construction and Profile
Forestone reeds are perfectly balanced side to side and front to back. The profile tapers down to 0.1 mm thickness across the tip. Held up to the light, the reeds display the classic upside-down “U-shape” associated with cane reeds.

Performance
Forestone reeds tend to maintain their strength and resistance over time. They vibrate well and hold the center of the sound in a manner similar to that of a good quality cane reed. The basic timber is robust, clear and strong, with just enough “buzz” to ensure projection and carrying power. Intonation is stable and the reeds articulate well throughout the range of the clarinet.

Feel
The difference in feel between Forestone and cane is minimal. That said, it is wise to take some time to get comfortable with Forestone, in the same way as you would take time to adjust to a new mouthpiece, ligature, barrel or instrument.

Adjustment
Blowing resistance can be adjusted with Forestone reeds by slightly raising or lowering the reed on the mouthpiece table (slightly lower placement results in slightly less resistance, slightly higher placement results in slightly more resistance). Although other types of adjustment are usually not necessary, the material is sufficiently hard that one can still do so using blades, files, sandpaper, reed rush or other tool or implement. Players can also clip Forestone reeds.

Longevity
The useful life of a Forestone reed will vary from player to player given that everyone’s way of playing — their embouchure address — stresses the reed differently. Forestone reeds will outlast good quality cane as the proprietary composite material is impervious to water-logging and breakdown by saliva, and will not warp due to changes in humidity or altitude. After a certain number of hours, however, the reeds will begin to feel less lively and responsive. The loss in vitality, be it subtle or more pronounced, would signal the time has come to retire the reed in favor of a newer one.