DooD 2.0 (Black/Green)

kiddo enjoys it. He was a little irritated that the fingering chart was different from his clarinet, but he adjusted. Sounds nice when he plays it and sometimes I can't tell the difference between the two instruments.

If you've played clarinet, you understand this joke (and it's relation to reeds!): How many clarinetists does it take to change a lightbulb? The answer - who knows...but they'll go through boxes and boxes of lightbulbs looking for just the right one!I've played clarinet for over four decades...mostly soprano, but also alto and bass. I've played saxophones. Playing the saxophone takes effort at the highest echelons of musical performance, but it is a relatively easy instrument to start playing as a beginner. Playing a clarinet, however, is like joining the priesthood; you must first sacrifice the rest of your life to pursue this path, and just when you think you're 'getting it', you have to sacrifice more. For some of us, clarinet is worth it; for me, there's nothing else like it, not even the saxophone (though playing the clarinet DOES make playing a sax...and most other woodwinds... fairly easy). What the Nuvo Dood does is make that first step EASY. I can see this nifty little instrument luring a lot of people in the clarinet direction.I purchased this because I wanted a small musical instrument to take motorcycle camping. I was originally looking at harmonicas, ukuleles, and various percussion instruments, but then settled on the idea of a "camping clarinet". It made sense, since I've played clarinet for so long. However, a regular clarinet wouldn't hold up to the abuse it would see out on the dusty trails we have here is the western USA. The Nuvo Dood, however, seems rugged and should take the abuse just fine. And even if it gets damaged or destroyed, it's only $30 (as of Dec. 2023), so it's super affordable to replace.When I opened the Amazon package after delivery, the Nuvo Dood was nicely contained in an internal box, and inside of that box was soft case containing the instrument. It came with two synthetic reeds, with strengths of 1 and 1.5. The Dood is some sort of plastic, but it feels like a "good plastic" and not a "cheap plastic". The mouthpiece cap, bell, and finger keys are a silicone material that feels good and seems rugged. The reed is held to the mouthpiece by a nifty little clamping mechanism. So far, so good...The first time I played the instrument, I was shocked. The tone is superb for such a simple instrument. While it wasn't quite the same as a regular clarinet, it's close enough for a 'camping clarinet'. It's one octave, and fully chromatic. It's in the key of C, which is perfect for this sort of instrument, particularly if you'll be playing with others; if it were in the key of Bb like a regular soprano clarinet, you'd really want the extra finger keys for playing in remote keys. Within minutes I had this baby all figured out and was having fun cranking out tunes. And it sounded GREAT.Camping trips are going to be more fun now. Highly, highly recommend. And if you're a flute or saxophone player, they have those, too...

Well, I am 47 and I actually bought this for myself, hahaha. No, seriously, I used to like playing the flute when I was younger but at my age the sound of the flute has become high pitched and annoying. I happened to come upon this gadget when searching for a student clarinet for my 14 yr. old son and thought it might be nice for me to try just for fun. So, of course, for the first hour I thought something was wrong with it and could not get one sound out of it. I futzed with it and finally thought maybe it had to do with the positioning of the reed. Presto!This tip will help every other buyer from now on. So, the reed that came already in place was down a bit, not flush with the mouthpiece. As soon as I raised it and it became the same height - flush with the tip of the mouth piece, it made its first sound. As you turn the device to its side, make sure the reed (the little plastic looking doober) is flush with the mouth piece but you should be able to see an opening, as it were, a crack, sort of, between the top of the reed and the mouthpiece. That's how I realized my breath needs to go into that little opening - the crack.Second tip: Your mouth should not circle the mouth piece in the shape of an O but rather as though someone was pulling your cheeks by the mouth out to the sides and and a bit downward, yet your mouth must be closed firmly around the mouthpiece so air does not escape.Also, sometimes you need to move it a bit upward or downward as your playing to get better sounds. When I take a deep breath and then blow, the sounds come out much nicer - another tip.Bottome line, I just found out that a clarinet is really hard to blow before you get used to it, so I would recommend this as an introduction to hard blowing instruments, either for kids / teenagers with patience or adults to have fun. As for the sound - quite nice actually, maybe aside from the bottom hole which tends to sound like its not quite part of the team - i.e. the rest of the buttons above, but all in all, I would recommend everyone buying this.Update: As far as the quality of the device I give this 5 stars because it sounds very nice and we all love it here. The reason I give it 4 stars is because of the "after purchase service" of the Nuvo company. After answering only one letter, they simply ignore my other inquiries which is a shame for such a cute innovation.