Klarinet Archive - Posting 001025.txt from 2000/01

From: "David B. Niethamer" <dnietham@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] Re: Mouthpiece FAQ
Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2000 07:54:06 -0500

on 1/29/00 8:46 PM, C. J. Klingman wrote:

>I would think that the mouthpiece furnished by the manufacturer with the
>clarinet would come closest to being optimized for that particular clarinet.
>Why should it be otherwise?
>
Because, to cynically oversimplify, manufacturers are cheap.

>Correspondingly, I'm surprise at the ads in Woodwind Brasswind for the
>high-end clarinets that are sold without a mouthpiece.
>
The second answer to the first paragraph, which also explains the second,
is that the manufacturer knows that the clarinetists will, almost without
exception, and certainly without thinking about why, discard the
manufacturer's mouthpiece and replace it with one of his/her own choosing.

>Seems that anyone would occasionally pull the OEM mouthpiece out of storage
>and check to be sure that it is not actually better than some aftermarket
>mouthpiece that they had been using a while.
>
I've only tried the Buffet mouthpieces (long ago) and the Yamahas. Some
of them are adequate mouthpieces. Many are not even that.

>It is logical also to assume that a beginner-level clarinet OEM mouthpiece
>would best be tested with a soft reed, an intermediate level mouthpiece with
>an intermediate numbered reed, etc.

Logical to you. But see paragraph #1 above. What is logical to the
manufacturer is to make the total package as, er, "price competitive" as
possible (read: cheap). Quality of mouthpiece and logic of reed strength
suited to it probably never enter the thinking of the manufacturer.

Walter Grabner wrote:

>Secondly, it seems that many players, probably the vast majority, do not
>want
>to understand why "what works with what" and instead long for the simplistic
>answer. I confess to this exhibiting this behavior for a large part of my
>life, e.g. " If only I could get as good a (substitute a piece of
>equipment)
>as (substitute a famous clarinetist), everything will be great."
>
>It seems to me that we all long for easy answers, in music and in fact in
>many areas of life. I am afraid that in this one area, a simple answer is
>not to going suffice.

My undergrad teacher would often ask at Master Classes if the visiting
artist would tell us all "the secret". Not one of those artists ever
did/would/could. I think my teacher knew "the secret" all along - you
have to practice. Sure, good equipment helps, but it ain't gonna play the
clarinet for ya. Ya gotta learn the notes (and all that other stuff!)

David

David Niethamer
Principal Clarinet, Richmond Symphony
dnietham@-----.edu
http://members.aol.com/dbnclar1/

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