Klarinet Archive - Posting 000393.txt from 1997/08

From: lexgrant@-----.com (Alexis)
Subj: Re: mouthpiece and reed freaks
Date: Tue, 12 Aug 1997 01:32:10 -0400

>Date: Tue, 5 Aug 1997 01:25:36 -0400 (EDT)
>From: GTGallant@-----.com
>Subject: mouthpiece and reed freaks

>You wrote:
>If I read another article or hear about people who make their own reeds or
>"reface" mouthpieces I may throw up! The best mouthpieces already exist. Do
>you want to know the secret? They are less expensive than nearly all
>professionl models on the market today. Since the suspense is killing you at
>this point I'll divulge my wisdom upon thine now. VANDOREN (preferably the
>B45 series). Wow, does'nt it feel great to put all those mouthpiece refacers
>and makers out of business! Never buy a silly $150 mouthpiece just because
>some idiot rubbed it across a sheet of sandpaper a few times. They are
>ripping you off! It's all bore design, baby! When was the last time you
>heard an actual discussion on the instrumant itself? Probably once, in a far
>away place in a dark alley. This is why clarinets (all brands except maybe
>Rossi) are inferior to other wind instruments because nobody seems concerned
>with their construction. Mass production manufactures keep producing garbage
>that professionals accept as "top of the line" and they seem perfectly
>comfortable with that notion. My humble opinion is that most players are
>afraid to turn a screw without consulting a repairman first. Fellow
>clarinetists, the instrument is not a mystical object, bound by magic and
>prayed over, but a piece of wood with metal attached to it. I'm getting off
>track a little bit, sorry! I am preparing a manifesto regarding the new
>direction in clarinet technology that some of you may find interesting. Does
>anyone feel the same?

I don't really agree with all of your assertions, but I do agree that some
people take getting the "right" reed and/or mouthpiece and/or ligature much
too seriously. Yeah, it makes you sound better, maybe it makes your reeds
work better, but as I am fond of saying, "the equipment does not make the
player". Perhaps that's less true of clarinettists than other musicians, but
I doubt it...
Okay, feel free to jump all over me now. And just to give everyone a little
extra ammunition, I am a convert from the flute, which leaves you free to
assume I know *nothing* about the clarinet (although I don't think that's
quite right).
Note: are they planning something new with the clarinet? I'll be ecstatic if
someone actually remembers that instrument design can be changed. If they
didn't, I was planning on working on it sometime. Extra throat Bb thumb key,
anyone?

Alexis

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"You can swim all day in the Sea of Knowledge and come out
completely dry. Most people do."
--The Phantom Tollbooth