Klarinet Archive - Posting 000431.txt from 1998/11

From: mpiede@-----.com
Subj: Re: [kl] doubling
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1998 04:38:14 -0500

On // you wrote:

It is just like a rubber mouthpiece the wider the tip opening the softer the reed. You play
about the same reed for the the same tip opening whether the mouthpiece is metal or rubber or
for that matter plastic (Hite makes a great mouthpiece for Tenor in plastic). The reason the
metal mouthpieces are thinner is towfold first metal is stronger and therefore does not need as
much bulk for the same structural strength as rubber, second many (not all) metal mouthpieces
have a smaller chamber than rubber which makes them have more edge, many of the rubber
mouthpieces for jazz are also narrower than the normal mouthpiece for the same reason (see Berg
Larsen, and others).

On my tenor I play a 3 1/2 Java reed on my (metal) Brilhart level air 5* (fairly narrow tip).
I will go to a 3 on my (rubber) Berg Larsen (just because it has a wider tip opening)
The difference is that the metal mouthpieces tend(usually!!!) to be brighter and louder than the
hard rubber everything else being equal (baffle height, chamber size, tip opening, etc.). That
is why they are commonly used for rock and jazz.

Mike

>
>For those of you who double, I'm curious about the jazz metal mouthpieces.
>They seem narrower, so do you use a softer reed or a harder reed??
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