Klarinet Archive - Posting 000286.txt from 1995/07

From: 00smgeidel@-----.EDU
Subj: Daniella question on mouthpieces--apologies is this is duplicated
Date: Thu, 27 Jul 1995 20:43:17 -0400

Friends,

On Daniella's question. . .

-<<Does the Larry Combs LC1 benifit beginners more than advanced players? What
are some recommendations for more advanced players? Right now, my instructor
wants me to get a Borbeck mouthpiece and switch to Vandoren reeds. Is that
a good move or is there a better line of mouthpieces?>>-

Daniella, let me add my few meager cents to your question. Your
instructor's advice is certainly good advice. And, as long as you remain a
student of this person, I strongly suggest you explore every suggestion made as
fully as possible. That said, Borbeck's mouthpieces vary--sometimes
significantly--from one mouthpiece to the next. So do players--Player A may
sound stellar on a particular mouthpiece, and Player B may reject that same
mouthpiece as unsuitable.

My advice to you is to look for a mouthpiece with a medium facing that
"works" for you. A "mainstream," traditional mouthpiece that will not hinder
the production of a free, clear sound, that will accept a medium strength reed,
and that will allow you to learn to play reasonably in tune without _undue_
effort. Such a mouthpiece will make demands on _you_ as a player--it will not,
of its own accord, produce a sound of its own character. Rather, it will be
flexible enough to require developmental effort on your part, and will reward
those efforts with progress towards an individualized sound.

Another bit of important advice...find a mouthpiece in line with the
above description, and then _forget about mouthpieces_ for a long, long time.
Don't look to mouthpieces for answers...YOU provide the answers. A fine
mouthpiece will respond to you. I know a fine young player--quite advanced
technically, reasonably advanced musically, whose development is now stymied by
his search for "the perfect mouthpice." He recently came to me and asked for my
help. He had three different, new mouthpieces with him. I asked him to play a
while on each one, and give me his critique. He very ably and aptly described
the failings of each mouthpiece (all by excellent craftsmen, incidentally). He
was in a quandry---what to do? I recommended he return them all, and spend six
weeks playing on the mouthpiece he was using _before_ he began his quest for the
perfect mouthpiece. Shortly into the experiment, he got the message...he has to
play the mouthpiece, the mouthpiece does not and cannot play him. It cannot
make him sound beautiful, or fully solve his intonation problems, or win him an
audition. He has to be the player. The only role of the mouthpiece, he is
starting to realize, is to allow him to do his work as a player without getting
in his way.

Best wishes, Daniella

S Geidel
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Stanley M. Geidel | Personal replies to:
University Libraries |
Ball State University | Internet: 00smgeidel@-----.edu
Muncie, Indiana 47306 | Bitnet: 00smgeidel@-----.bitnet
(317) 285-5143 |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Stanley M. Geidel | Personal replies to:
University Libraries |
Ball State University | Internet: 00smgeidel@-----.edu
Muncie, Indiana 47306 | Bitnet: 00smgeidel@-----.bitnet
(317) 285-5143 |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------