Klarinet Archive - Posting 000875.txt from 1998/03

From: Shouryu Nohe <jnohe@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: Another note on Chedeville Revamps...
Date: Sat, 14 Mar 1998 11:45:03 -0500

> I'm not a mouthpiece expert by any means, but my understanding (supported
> only in part by my own experience) is that one of the reasons for longer
> facings (i.e. distance from the tip to the point at which the facing begins
> to separate from the reed) is that they permit the use of heavier reeds. The
> German facings are noted for their length and the very stiff reeds they
> permit - reeds that wouldn't make a sound on a French style facing. If
> you're basing this advice solely on experience with M13s , I would suggest
> that the mouthpiece itself is, I find, a little more resistant than others
> with similar facings. It is certainly more resistant than a Gigliotti P34 I
> own, which has nearly the same length and tip opening as the M13. My
> Gigliotti P, which is a little over a millimeter longer than the M13, is
> much more accommodating to stiffer reeds - in fact, anything that works on
> the M13 is too thin on the AG P and, conversely, the reeds that feel good on
> the Gigliotti are nearly unplayable on the M13.

Unfortunately, my experience had been exactly the opposite.
When I was using my medium faced mouthpiece, I was playing a V12 strength
4.5. My prof hands me a box of mpieces - about 10 - 12 of them. My job
was to find one that worked for me. He instructed me to use three
different reeds on each one - a normal one for me, one a little too stiff
for me, and one a little too soft. Among all of those that I experimented
with were the Gennusa GE, a Portnoy, an M13, a Gigliotti (don't remember
what kind), and a Borbeck. All of these sounded great with a softer reed.
In the end, it was a toss up between the GE, the M13, and a Fobes beginner
(using my regular reed). The GE won it. (For me...it was a $250
mpiece...I'll tell the story if anyone wants to hear...) The Fobes was
great, but the tone was just a hair too spread. The M13 had a hair too
much resistance for me, even with the softer reed (the Borbeck was also
like this). The GE, the M13, the Gig. and the Borbeck are all Chedeville
copies...I think the Portnoy is, too.

After I start using the GE, I'm finding that I am unable to use the last
few reeds in my box of 4.5s. I bought a box of 4s last fall, and am much
happier with the tone and resistance level.

My roommate (Josh Coleman) recently got hooked on the GE as well (he's
using the one I had used before buying my own). He mentioned to me a
month back or so that he seems to get a better sound with a softer reed.
Not a full half strength as I did, but enough that he would have to sand
his V12s a great deal (I think more cane ended up as dust in our trashcan
than what stayed on the reed. ^_^ ). He had switched from a Vandie B45 or
5RVLyre (don't recall exactly).

It was this way for both of us - that's where I draw my conclusions.
Maybe he had different results with all of the other mpieces Dr. Borchert
handed him, but our experience with the Gennusa is the same.

Shouryu Nohe
Professor of SCSM102, New Mexico State Univ.
http://web.nmsu.edu/~jnohe; ICQ 6771552
Coffee Drinker, Musician, Otaku, Jesus Freak, Admirer of Women
(Not necessarily in that order)
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