Klarinet Archive - Posting 000525.txt from 1997/09

From: Leslie Andersen <LeslieA@-----.ORG>
Subj: Tone and mouthpieces
Date: Wed, 10 Sep 1997 14:58:14 -0400

Several years ago I dropped and broke the tip off my beautiful refaced
"who knows what brand" mouthpiece I got from Fred Ormand. Needless
to say, I was devastated but immediately went on the search for a new
one.

I decided on a Gennusa and have been very happy with it except for one
thing. It has lowered my pitch significantly. So much so that I had to buy
a shorter barrel. I now play well in tune most of the time with it but have
always been puzzled as to why it would have lowered my pitch so
much. I'm using the same reeds (Vandoren 4) and ligature (Harrison
gold) that I had been using before. I have never had this experience
before or since with a mouthpiece. I have thought of looking for another
but am hesitant to start the "mouthpiece game" all over again, having
been there too many times. Any thoughts about this?

Leslie Andersen, Clarinettist who works as a Librarian