Klarinet Archive - Posting 000524.txt from 2000/08

From: Kenneth Wolman <kwolman@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Crystal Mouthpieces
Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2000 14:00:31 -0400

At 12:53 PM 8/18/00 -0400, you wrote:
>I have heard about those crystal mouthpieces. Is the tone quality or response
>time any good? My clarinet instructor said you can see all the spit inside
>them (ugh).

Yeah, you can. Nu, so don't look:-). Seriously...and merging with the
Pomarico thread...I own a very open-faced Pomarico for the Bb and for
another the bass and they're both wonderful. I don't remember the facings
offhand because the Bb is down at my new house at the shore and I can't get
through the debris I'm packing right now to see the bass mouthpiece, but
that one is narrow-bore and the tone is extremely sweet with a Grand
Concert #3. Ignore the schmutz on the inside; it's the same YOU that
collects inside the standard hard rubber mp, only crystal lets you see what
you're doing:-).

I suspect from the name that the Nigun was designed for Giora Feidman,
since all his CDs that I've seen show him playing crystal mps that probably
are Pomaricos. A large-bore mp for the Bb produces a nice "bendy" effect
in any case if I want to mess with stuff like that.

The one drawback to Pomarico mouthpieces, at least on the bass, is that
they don't seem to like metal ligatures. The outer dimensions seem
different from my hard rubber mouthpieces: Selmer, Yamaha, and Vandoren. I
almost HAVE to use BGs or Rovners to get any kind of grip around the
reed. Not that a BG is bad news, mind you, but....

Back in early '98 I picked up a used O'Brien for $25 and immediately spent
$15 for recorking. The longer I play the more I hate the thing. I never
use it anymore. The guy who sold it to me told me that O'Brien made
mouthpieces out of melted-down mayonaisse jars and coke bottles. I would
not be a bit surprised if this were not the truth. Maybe I can melt it
down again and use it to make tuna salad.

Ken <in moving frenzy>

----------------------------
Kenneth Wolman http://www.rio-cardoner.com
and http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder.tcl?folder_id=49340
"...perhaps we really complete those we love, fulfill their finally
unchanging essence, when they're gone from us, when we take into ourselves
their portions of them still available to us, to acknowledge them more
perfectly, more purely, and do homage to the fugitive, protean forms of
love of, and love from."--C.K. Williams, "Misgivings"

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