Klarinet Archive - Posting 001431.txt from 1997/10

From: Karl Krelove <kkrelove@-----.com>
Subj: Re: Reed Strengths and types
Date: Fri, 31 Oct 1997 20:44:24 -0500

At 07:56 PM 10/30/97 -0500, Rafe T. wrote:

>Jerry Korten wrote:

>

>>This is a very interesting thread that keeps coming up from

>>listserv

>>subscribers in Europe. They seem to use reeds that are a lot less

>>strong than

>>those we use...

>

>Without generalizing about national (continental) tendencies, perhaps

>it can be said that many American professionals, particularly the

>most recognizable first-chair players, seem to prefer a setup in

>which those characteristics of the clarinet voices -- chalumeau,

>clarinet, clarion -- are indistinguishable. To other players

>(European and American alike) this amounts to blurring the

>distinction that makes the sound of the clarinet so characteristic.=20

>Does a "firmer" setup lends itself to the sort of brilliant sound

>that some of our beter-known American players obtain these days?=20

>Maybe. But if, as seems apparent, many American students think so,

>and equate "harder reed" with "better player," it could very well be

>as a result of trying to emulate this sound.

>

>

I'd be willing to bet a great deal that none of the players you have in
mind would admit to a "brilliant" sound unless "dark" and "brilliant"
could somehow be twisted into becoming synonymous.=20

I've been periodically checking this thread and I find myself puzzled by
the emphasis of some who have posted on reed strength in contrast to
total resonance of the mouthpiece/reed/instrument and their ultimate
total effect on the musicality of the resulting sound. I remember several
posts that specifically mentioned a VanDoren B45 as though a) this were
an internationally recognized standard and b) this were the mouthpiece
all of us who use firmer strength reeds play on and we just clamp
vice-like onto the more resistant setup to prove, as some have joked, our
manhood. If this or a similarly faced mouthpiece is in fact a standard
among European players, then the reason for the apparent differences in
reed strength between leading American players and European ones may not
be so hard to explain. I use #4 or #4.5 VanDoren V12's, but I've been
playing on a Gigliotti P since he began marketing them in the '70's and
recently have been experimenting with a VanDoren M13, both of which have
a tip opening of about 1 mm. In addition, my Gigliotti has a curve that
is almost 2 mm longer (isn't longer better?) than even the M13. I can't
imagine using anything less than a #3 of any reed brand I've tried on
either of these facings no matter which side of the Atlantic you live on
(and I can't actually get a sound worth having even out of #3.5's). On
the other hand, I couldn't play a #4 or a #4.5 on a B45 to save my soul.
VanDoren advertises that a B45 (traditional or Series 13) has a tip
opening of 1.195 mm, almost .2 mm more open than my Gigliotti. If I used
that mouthpiece, I, too, would have to back off the reed strength I use.
I suspect that Gigliotti P's are not <italic>de rigeur</italic> in Europe
and the whole "Profile13" series of VanDorens is advertised as being for
Americans. It is maybe worth noting that the 5RV, the closest facing
among the older traditional VanDorens (presumably designed originally to
satisfy European tastes), is 1.06 mm, significantly more open than
either of my "American" mouthpieces. Does anyone out there use a VanDoren
5JB? Its tip opening is 1.47 mm. VanDoren recommends using a #1.5 with
it. I'd bet that mouthpiece with a #1.5 isn't much, if any, easier
blowing than my M13 with a #4 straight out of the box.

Just a few cents worth on a very old topic.

Karl