Klarinet Archive - Posting 000628.txt from 1996/05

From: "George E. Landis" <gel@-----.NET>
Subj: Re: Selmer mouthpieces
Date: Tue, 28 May 1996 21:54:44 -0400

>I have been fooling around with Selmer Bb mouthpieces: C85 (105) and some
>old HS* and HS** I picked up as junk. Also, something manufactured by "IDEAL,
>Paris France" bearing the HS* designation but looking nothing like the "real"
>Selmer HS*. I find the sound of the HS* unlike anything I've ever played.
>Are there complaints that these things play sharp? Has anyone studied/
>collected these things?
>**************
>Bill Fogle
>Washington, DC
>bill.fogle@-----.com
>**************
Back in the "good old days" (which weren't), HS* mouthpieces were commonly
used as beginner mouthpieces, at least around here (Dallas, Texas). They
don't necessarily play any sharper than any other starter m'piece, in my
experience. They do have a more centered, brighter tone than the Vandorens
that the schools around here around are currently using for their beginners.
Someone told me that Steve Girko, principal in the Dallas Symphony, as
recently as three or four years ago played on an HS* that had been reworked
by someone in Chicago. I don't know if this is true or not.
Regards.