Klarinet Archive - Posting 000223.txt from 1999/08

From: David Blumberg <reedman@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] re: Rubber vs: plastic M.P. for young students
Date: Wed, 11 Aug 1999 07:46:14 -0400

Roger Garrett opined:
<<<I don't have my beginning students purchase a plastic mouthpiece - I ask
them to go to hard rubber. While many people may disagree, I personally
believe a plastic mouthpiece will never sound quite as nice as a duplicate
hard rubber.>>>
I guess that I'm in the disagreer's camp, FWIW. I personally use a hard
rubber clarinet mouthpiece--a Greg Smith 1*, uses a Zinner blank. I have
also used crystal, however. On alto sax, I end up using 1 of 2 mouthpieces:
either a Brilhart 5* (for "commercial" work) or a Sigurd Rascher. Both are
plastic. That's not why I choose to use them--I have a drawer full of much
more expensive rubber and metal mouthpieces--they just work better for me.
My opinion (please note the use of the "o" word) is that material is
immaterial. A tiny change in the facing or interior dimensions would be a
much bigger factor than what it's made of.
Hard rubber is easier to hand-craft, so that's why the esteemed mouthpiece
gurus use it. Crystal is more stable, but hard to work with (and a disaster
if dropped). Plastic is only a bit cheaper than rubber, and perhaps doesn't
last as long with normal playing--but with a mouthpiece patch, it'll likely
hold up just as much to the (ab)use that students subject them to.
kjf

--------------------------------

I vaguely remember that Clark Fobes either commented, or has on his web
page that plastic is easier to mold, or work with than rubber for a
consistent product. I value dimensions much, much more then material, but
to me, material is still important. It does however make a good argument
for an inexpensive plastic mouthpiece to be of good quality - if it's made
well.

David Blumberg
playit@-----.com
Have you heard? http://www.mytempo.com

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