Klarinet Archive - Posting 000308.txt from 1994/10

From: Josias Associates <josassoc@-----.COM>
Subj: Re: Mouthpieces
Date: Mon, 24 Oct 1994 22:35:08 -0400

On Sun, 23 Oct 1994, Tonya Trapp wrote:

> I've been playing on a Mitchell Lurie Premium mouthpiece for the last year or
> so. I really love the sound that it's given me. I'm surprised that no one
> else has even mentioned it! Many of the players here at Drake use them, and
> we are all extremely satisfied with them.

Tonya,

In case you hadn't seen my earlier references to the Lurie
Mouthpiece, in response to your message, I'll repeat what I had written
previously.

I play a Mitchell Lurie Premium crystal mouthpiece with my Bb, A,
and C clarinets, and in the many, many years I have been playing,
I prefer this mouthpiece to any of the others I've owned -- and that
constitutes a sizable comparison base. I know that mouthpiece preference
is a very personal and subjective thing. So while my statements will be
viewed in that light, I thought you might like to know that there are
kindred spirits on the network.

The disadvantage of the crystal mouthpiece is its higher breakage
potential. The first one I owned, in fact, did break as a result of what I
thought was only a minimal physical shock. I have since replaced it with
another Premium crystal mouthpiece, which is almost as good as the first one.

I like this mouthpiece for several reasons such as tone quality,
general intonation, and accurate scale, especially in the throat register,
where, for prior years, I had to automatically shade notes when using other
mouthpieces.

I also reported my use of the Lurie mouthpiece in John Dohrmann's
survey, although my input has not yet been included in the preliminary
survey tabulation.

Connie

Conrad Josias
Engineering Consultant
Josias Associates
La Canada, California
josassoc@-----.com