Ive yet to master a purr with a reed but I can attest to the fact that different strikers depending on the material on the slate indeed make completely different sounds. For instance on a recent slat I bought I found I could do a faint purr using a carbon striker but when I used a plexi striker I could produce a much crisper and definitive purr. But who am I to talk. I went home empty handed this year on the birds.