Klarinet Archive - Posting 000732.txt from 2002/11

From: "Keith" <100012.1302@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] Leblanc paperclip contra
Date: Mon, 25 Nov 2002 23:59:20 -0500

David

Contra m/ps come in two sizes, with the older ones taking larger reeds.
The contra reeds you buy nowadays from eg Vandoren are for newer m/ps. I
haven't done a side-by-side comparison, but my new m/p from Clark Fobes
works very nicely (Leblanc Bb contra, not the paperclip). He plays
contra too and is well informed on the subject.

I found Vandoren contra reeds to be very variable and not particularly
good. Guy Legere is currently prototyping contra reeds and should sweep
the market.

Keith Bowen
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Date: Fri, 15 Nov 2002 19:23:23 -0500
From: "David B. Niethamer" <dnietham@-----.edu>
Subject: Leblanc paperclip contra

I know there are some contra experts on the list, and I hope you can
provide me with some info.

We dug out the U of Richmond's Leblanc paperclip contra for the band,
since there is a dearth of Eb contra parts. The paperclip works OK - it
has been a long time since it was last used, but it functions. There
were
Contra reeds in the case, but they were too big for the mouthpiece - the

bari sax reeds used on the Eb contra fit better, and seemed to play
better. I confess to not paying close attention in the past - I know
this
was discussed. Do we have the right mpc for this beast, or should we
look
for a proper contra mpc top get the best sound out of this instrument.

Any help greatly appreciated, both by me and by my theater major
clarinetist who is a good sport to play these.

David

David Niethamer
dnietham@-----.edu
http://members.aol.com/dbnclar1/

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