Klarinet Archive - Posting 001482.txt from 1998/05

From: Kenneth Wolman <kwolman@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Hite Premiere
Date: Sat, 30 May 1998 01:52:10 -0400

>>Okay, as long as we're on the subject of plastic mouthpieces, how do=
people
>>who've tried it find the Hite Premier?
>
>I think the Hite Premiere is a FABULOUS student mouthpiece (if you can get
>a 5th grader to take good care of it). I put all of my beginners on Hite
>Premiere mouthpieces right away, and have found that it's so much easier to
>guide them in the right direction in terms of embouchure and tone because
>they're not fighting a crappy stock mouthpiece that even the best players
>couldn't get to work. This provides the student with a heck of a lot more
>encouragement; the number of squeaks is also radically reduced and it comes
>with a sturdy bite patch. I think for beginning students, the Hite Premiere
>is wonderful and the price is right (only about $20 for a hand faced
>student mouthpiece!!!).

Well, I figured how wrong could I go for $21 and change, so I bought one.
Not sure how I was gonna like it so I lashed a Vandoren #3 to the thing
with a rubber band for a ligature: Sam Ash won't take them back if they're
scratched or marked.

Do I like it? It's the best $21 I ever spent on musical equipment.
Impressions: it does not have the sweet tone of the Selmer HS*, it seems to
give a more piercing edge, but that's okay. I tried it out with the Ravel
"Pi=E8ce en Forme de Habe=F1era," and it behaved like a champion, even handl=
ing
the octave jumps easily and in as much tune as someone with my lousy chops
would allow. I don't know that it's the kind of mouthpiece on which a pro
would want to stake his or her career at a major audition, but for someone
who's learning or relearning, or who might need a backup mouthpiece, it's
terrific.

Ken

"The East River. But it was not a river at all. Merely a column of water
connecting the upper harbor to the Sound. Yet everyone called it a river.
They chose not to think about it. They clung to the surface of things."
--Peter Quinn, "Banished Children of Eve"
Ken Wolman kwolman@-----.com/SoHo/Gallery/1649

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