Klarinet Archive - Posting 000137.txt from 2002/05

From: Bill Hausmann <bhausmann1@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Mouthpiece help...
Date: Sun, 5 May 2002 20:25:41 -0400

At 04:26 PM 5/5/2002 -0700, William Wright wrote:
"I'm playing with with Rico Royal 2's and 2 1/2's at the moment. I
>can hit most Clarion notes with these reeds, do I need something
>stronger to go higher?"
>
>The advice about "It's different for each person" and "Try different
>reeds yourself" and "Ask for advice from someone with experience
>(because we on this list can't hear your playing)" apply here as well.
>
>It's generally true that as you gain more breath support and embouchure
>strength, you will want to move towards stiffer reeds. But some of us
>stop at 3 or 3-1/2 or 4, and others of us go up to 5. My teacher and
>professional freelancer, for example, plays a 4. While I'm not a
>professional or expert, I feel comfortable at 3-1/2. As you may have
>read during the recent conversation about Turkish clarinets, you may
>decide some day to go _back down_ to 2 or 2-1/2 in order to manipulate
>your sound in extreme ways.
>
>In general, moving to a stiff reed too quickly leads to one of the major
>errors: "biting" on the reed too hard. This is one area where a
>teacher or experienced player can be especially helpful guide you.
>
>Reed and mouthpiece interact. It's common to own more than one
>mouthpiece, and to play a different reed on each mouthpiece, depending
>on the character of the music that you are playing at the moment.

This last part is VERY true. I have several mouthpieces I play on with
some frequency, and my reed strength and brand varies from a Vandoren 2 1/2
to a Mitchell Lurie 4 1/2. I also think many students are moved to quickly
to harder reeds than they should be using, judging from the forced and airy
sound I hear from a lot of young school players. Still, if you intend to
play much in the altissimo register, you'd better be prepared to toughen up
a notch. Too soft a reed will just close up.

Bill Hausmann bhausmann1@-----.net
451 Old Orchard Drive
Essexville, MI 48732 ICQ UIN 4862265

If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the band is TOO LOUD!

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