Klarinet Archive - Posting 000855.txt from 2002/07

From: "Daniel Stover" <kasparguy@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Sax/Clarinet Doublers? Reed Strength?
Date: Sun, 28 Jul 2002 20:46:34 -0400

It's hard to say really. When i started saxophone, i was playing a very
close Ann Arbor-Kaspar on clarinet. I had to play Vandoren V-12 4.5's on
clarinet. Now i play a different clarinet mouthpiece, a Kaspar-Cicero, 16
refaced down to a smaller opening. So i play on traditional 3.5's. On
saxophones i play Selmer Soloists. Alto a C and Tenor a C*. I manage fine
with Vandoren traditional 3's on both.

I have been working on reducing my biting even further on clarinet, but i
haven't had to reduce my reed strength.

Daniel

----Original Message Follows----
From: Gil Guerrero <gilster@-----.com>
Subject: [kl] Sax/Clarinet Doublers? Reed Strength?
Date: Sun, 28 Jul 2002 15:37:17 -0500

I'm curious as to whether others have had a similar experience:

I've been taking clarinet for the last several years and this year decided
that I wanted to try my hand at the saxophone.

On the clarinet, I was typically playing "V12" 3-1/2 reeds. My teacher was
seriously encouraging me to play the sax with a softer reed and I'm now very
comfortable on the alto with a 2-1/2 (Vandoren traditional.) What I've found
is that I dropped an entire strength in my clarinet reed to a 2-1/2.
Previously, I had never been able to play such a soft reed as my embouchure
was too firm (probably read "I was biting.")

Somewhat counterintuitive to the conventional wisdom I've read here and
elsewhere, my sax mouthpiece is a fairly close faced Vandoren A17 with these
soft reeds. My clarinet mouthpiece is more "medium" (I think) an Iggy
Gennusa GE*.

I realize that there is no prestige in playing a soft or hard reed, but I'm
curious as to whether others have had similar experiences and do the
doublers find that their embouchures seem to draw their reed strengths
closer together.

Overall, I think it was a good thing that this seems to have softened my
embouchure, and has kept me aware of keeping a focused sound (without too
much "firmness" applied.)

Best to all on the list!

--
Gil Guerrero
gilster@-----.com

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