Klarinet Archive - Posting 000539.txt from 1997/02

From: "Edmund W. White" <ewhite@-----.US>
Subj: ATTENTION BASS CLARINETISTS!!!!
Date: Sat, 15 Feb 1997 23:51:54 -0500

What mouthpiece/reed setups do you all use? I've always used the
Selmer C* bass mouthpiece, but I've never seen anyone mention it on the
list. I play both classical and jazz bass, and have had a lot of time to
experiment with different reeds. I've been using medium-soft La Voz tenor
sax reeds with either a Rovner or stock-silver Selmer ligature. The first
tenor sax in my jazz combo asked me why I didn't use bass clarinet reeds, and
I told him that none seemed to work. Vandorens are unnecessarily hard (even the
#2's), and I don't know anyone who could produce a decent sound on any of
the RICOS (with the exception of the Plasticover). Today, I was
introduced to the Vandoren JAVA tenor reeds, and they performed fairly
well; almost on the same level as the La Voz's. But that got me
thinking, "Am I missing something?" Any feedback on the subject would be
greatly appreciated.

Edmund White
ewhite@-----.us