Klarinet Archive - Posting 000525.txt from 2000/10

From: "Clark W Fobes" <reedman@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] Shifrin's Mouthpiece
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2000 11:57:53 -0400

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I had the great pleasure of hearing Dave play the Copland Clarinet =
Concerto with the San Jose Symphony this past weekend. I was performing =
on the concert as well and had an opportunity to meet him. What a nice =
man!

Of course I asked him about his mouthpiece and he stated that he is =
still playing the Jim Kanter mouthpiece that Jim made for him when he =
(Shifrin lived in LA). I have not measured Shifrin's mouthpiece, but I =
have measured two others that Kanter made as copies for Shifrin =
students.

These mouthpieces were quite open (for my taste) , about 1.20mm. But =
what i found most strange was that they were extremely long facings =
20mm! This is getting into the range of saxophone facings. I was not =
close enough to observe his mouth, but I assume that he takes a good =
deal of mouthpiece. His sound was quite broad and he posesses a =
beautiful legato. I personally felt that his sound became spread when he =
played loud in the low register and he also had a tendency to play a =
little low in the throat tones. Both of these factors might possibly be =
attributed to the long facing. It is also possible that he was playing a =
slightly softer reed than usual to bring a jazz quality to the piece.

In total, though, he played sensationally. The rythmic verve he brought =
to his performance was stunning. I don't think I have ever heard that =
piece played with more tonal and musical nuance.

Clark W Fobes

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