Klarinet Archive - Posting 000071.txt from 1994/03

From: "Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.EDU>
Subj: Tom Ascher and his A clarinet
Date: Sat, 5 Mar 1994 11:24:59 -0500

Tom, I don't have anything to give you with respect to your A
clarinet cum mouthpiece question except for what I do and that is
not necessarily anything but what suits me. It might not work for
you and it might not even be good practice.

I have two mouthpieces, one for each instrument. They are, of course,
interchangable, but I make a most serious effort to keep them separate.
I also found that my A was more difficult to blow with one mouthpiece
than another so I sought out an A mouthpiece to minimize the problem and
that is what I use.

I also add that I was motivated by the fact that fast instrument changes
are more easily accomplished if one has both instruments completely
self-containable. The removal of a mouthpiece (or mouthpiece/barrel
combination) from one instrument and inserting it on or into another
is always a potentially hazaradous situation. The ligature might not
have been tightly screwed down and it comes off in your hands and you
have 2 measures to get things right with God.

I absolutely must have two mouthpieces for my bass clarinets since
it is quite impractical to take a b.c. mouthpiece out and insert it
in the other instrument in the time required (on Mahler symphonies
for example). Sometimes one is given only 2 or 3 measures to change
from A to B-flat bass clarinet and I don't think anyone in the world
(who has the two instruments) can accomplish that. This is also true
in LaValse and the piano concerto for the left hand. It is made even
more complicated by the fact that the b.c. is a big, bulky instrument
and you have one on a stand, the other in between your knees, and there
you are trying to change mouthpieces. It is a logistical nightmare.

So my personal experience leads me to have separate mouthpieces for
separate instruments but I am convinced that you will find experienced
players who swear to the contrary, and who is to say what is right
and what is not. Instead, one can only say what works for one and
what does not.

====================================
Dan Leeson, Los Altos, California
(leeson@-----.edu)
====================================