Klarinet Archive - Posting 000009.txt from 1996/02

From: "Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.EDU>
Subj: Alto clarinets and their problems
Date: Thu, 1 Feb 1996 09:01:08 -0500

I wonder to what extent the notorious reputation of alto clarinets is
due in any way to the mouthpieces that are supplied by the
manufacturer.

With soprano and bass mouthpieces, you can get a craftsperson to turn out
a honey of a one, but I suspect that few craftspeople are ever asked
to create an alto mouthpiece. And even if they were, there is not
enough business to justify doing it up golden.

So invariably an alto clarinet is played using the stock mouthpiece
that comes with the instrument and such things have a history of being
the cheapest and most poorly made element of any clarinet purchase.

How many of you would use the stock mouthpiece that came with a
Bundy for very long? Yet the mp that comes in the case with the alto
clarinet gets abused year after year. No wonder it does not add to the
general reputation of the alto.

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