Reeds
Vandoren
Zonda
Reeds are most unfortunately a necessary evil. The answer to the reed dilemma is not to get the cheapest reed possible unless you are a rank beginner and you’re still breaking reeds left and right. The cheaper reeds are made out of inferior cane stock. Usually the reason it is cheaper is because the cane has been grown in the United States. Sorry, we just don’t grow good cane stock here. It is possible to contain your costs by keeping ahead of the game and ordering online. You can get pretty decent prices online and there are ways of making it even cheaper if you order enough at a time. Getting together with a few friends to order reeds is an excellent way of saving money. And please, please, please, please, please don’t wait until you are down to the last reed before you think about getting a new box. You’ll need the reeds anyway, why not stay ahead of the game so you don’t make your teacher/ band director/ parents/ self mad and frustrated that you don’t have a reed and have to waste time not being able to play. And trust me, nobody likes it when you mooch reeds from them until you get more of your own.