Klarinet Archive - Posting 000059.txt from 1995/06

From: Josias Associates <josassoc@-----.COM>
Subj: Re: Crystal Clear?
Date: Mon, 5 Jun 1995 19:57:28 -0400

On Sun, 28 May 1995, Fred Cicetti wrote:

> I've read all the KLARINET logs and haven't found a serious analysis that
> answers my questions about crystal mouthpieces.
>
> Some of the opinions expressed by members of this list include the following:
>
> 1. Crystal mouthpieces are brighter.
>
> 2. Crystal mouthpieces are darker.
>
> 3. Crystal mouthpieces chip easily and shatter if you drop them.
>
> 4. Crystal mouthpieces are only suitable for glass clarinets.
>
> 5. Crystal mouthpieces just sound a little different, but aren't any
> better than hard rubber.
>
> 6. Crystal mouthpieces aren't very popular among professionals.
>
> 7. Crystal mouthpieces make great door stops.
>
> In general, crystal mouthpieces don't seem to be taken very seriously.
> Then why are they made?
>
> I play a hard rubber Vandoren. I tried a crystal mouthpiece once that
> belonged to a friend, a professional. He made me try an experiment with
> it. I took a soft Rico reed that was guaranteed to buzz on my mouthpiece.
> When I played the reed on his crystal mouthpiece, the buzz disappeared.
> I've been intrigued ever since.
>
> I'm considering buying one even though I know they are fragile. I need
> serious advice--the kind Dan Leeson donates to the list. Anybody out
> there knowledgeable on this subject? Also, anyone ever use the Pete
> Fountain crystal? What's your view on this one?
>
> cicetti@-----.com
>
Fred,

Here, by way of this belated reply to your inquiry about crystal
mouthpieces, are some comments about my experience on the subject.

I bought my first crystal mouthpiece, a Mitchell Lurie Premium,
about six years ago from a friend who didn't like it. And, I made the
purchase with full knowledge of the breakage hazards.

Like many players, I've changed mouthpieces through the years in
search of improvements, limiting my choice to what was conveniently
available or what was being used by players whose sounds I admired. I now
recognize from reports I read on this network and elsewhere that there
may have been comparable or even superior choices of which I had been
unaware.

But back to the crystal mouthpiece. I had been playing a Kanter
715 at the time of the Lurie purchase, and, for me, the Kanter had been
the best mouthpiece I had owned. Both of my Kanters (I had two) played sharp
in the the throat register relative to the rest of the scale, and those
notes continuously needed shading, which complicated otherwise simpler
fingering patterns. The Lurie crystal mouthpiece smoothed out the scale,
obviating the need for further shading, and provided an increased dynamic
range, without sacrificing the desirable sound of the Kanter mouthpiece.

About a year after I purchased it, the crystal mouthpiece fell
a distance of just a few inches onto a hard surface, chipping off a corner
and making it unusable. But I liked it so much that I purchased another one,
which, though not quite as good as the first, was very acceptable. I am
meticulously careful about the handling of this mouthpiece and have had
it considerably longer than the first.

I find it interesting how many playing accounts of others mirror
my experiences. Like a number of people, I had played double lip (two years
in my case) as a way of getting around the teeth/bone conduction problem.
But, the mechanical stability problems that kept me rooted to the chair,
dependent on use of a knee for stabilizing support of the instrument,
caused me to reconsider the situation. It was the use of the soft rubber
mouthpiece patch that enabled me to resume playing with single lip,
but this time without the pesky distortion from bone conduction.

I mention the use of the mouthpiece patch partly as a
reinforcement of recommendations from other peple and also because
playing a crystal mouthpiece without some kind of patch is (at least
for me) exceedingly difficult.

Regarding your question about the type of sound produced by the
mouthpiece (bright, dark??), all I can say is that my setup does not
produce a bright or edgy sound. Beyond that, I have the same problem with
"dark" that Dan has, because I don't know what it means. My mouthpiece
setup seems to afford sufficient dynamic-range headspace to produce
robust or muscular solo sounds, while providing a more blendable ensemble
sound at lower dynamic levels.

As you can see, my experiences with crystal mouthpieces -- apart
from the damage hazard -- have been salutary. You might like them.

Connie

Conrad Josias
La Canada, California