Klarinet Archive - Posting 000660.txt from 2003/02

From: Karl Krelove <karlkrelove@-----.net>
Subj: RE: [kl] New Mouthpiece...was Recommendations
Date: Sat, 22 Feb 2003 11:47:19 -0500

Start with the last question first:

There is very rarely so bad a mismatch between a player's physical features
and a mouthpiece design that it is uncategorically "the wrong mouthpiece"
for that player. Your problems with the 2RV come from your approach toward
the mouthpiece. This is conditioned by your experience and habits with your
old one (which you didn't identify) and is (or should be) influenced heavily
by what you want to produce when you play. The question you need to answer
for yourself (or with your teacher's help if you are still studying and have
a good private teacher) is whether or not you find advantages in the way the
mouthpiece plays that make adjusting to it worthwhile. There is probably no
mouthpiece currently in production that can't be played on by anyone who
wants to play on it. But you have to decide if the mouthpiece (or any piece
of equipment) gives you an advantage or helps you toward your musical goals
in a way that makes the necessary adjustments in embouchure and reed style
worthwhile.

The 2RV is a mouthpiece I haven't seen in a long time (wasn't it
discontinued?) and my experience with it is too far back to be of any use,
except that I used to recommend it to students when I first began teaching
in the 1970's. The VanDoren mouthpieces I've played on in recent years have
a kind of resistance that allows less air but requires a great deal of care
in using the embouchure to focus the air stream. The mouthpiece is capable
of a very clear and easily produced tone, but I have found that the
increased resistance can cause me to try to force air in, which most
definitely can lead to squeaks. On the other hand, I have been attracted to
the ease you mention in the altissimo and also to a certain ease I feel in
the clarion register with the VanDorens I've tried.

One thing to note about the air leak - the VanDoren Profile 88 mouthpieces
are made with a narrower beak than the traditional VanDorens. The 2RV was, I
think, equivalent to a modern 5RV, which is available in both the
traditional and Profile 88 shapes. You might try a 5RV or even one of the
M13-15 facings, all of which are flavors of the type of facing that I think
the 2RV originally came with. In any case, your air leak with the 2RV is
almost certainly a matter of needing to adapt to a differently shaped beak
in addition to your possibly trying to force more air than the mouthpiece
needs or will accept. Again, your willingness to adjust is the key to
whether this mouthpiece is one you want to switch to.

Obviously, to get the best results out of a different mouthpiece, you must
find a reed strength and style that works best with it - which could easily
be different from what you've been using on your old mouthpiece.

By the way, for anyone who knows, I just checked the VanDoren website to see
if they listed a modern 2RV. They don't, but I also noticed they don't list
the M14 either. They mention all the other Series 13 mouthpieces, but the
M14 seems to be missing in action. Have they discontinued it?

Karl Krelove

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vic Brincat [mailto:vicbrincat@-----.com]
> Sent: Saturday, February 22, 2003 1:29 AM
> To: klarinet@-----.org
> Subject: [kl] New Mouthpiece...was Recommendations
>
>
> I am starting to experiment with new mouthpieces.
>
> I have just purchased a brand new Vandoren 2RV. I
> noticed that I have more control on the higer register
> witheth 2RV and that I don't need nearly as much air
> to produce a good tone.Two negative things I noticed
> after using this mouthpiece for a couple of days:
>
> 1. I find there is less back-pressure than with my
> other mouthpiece and I squack because I tend to want
> to push more air.
>
> 2. This is a bad one. I find that with this
> mouthpiece, I leak air from the sides of my upper lip
> at ceratin times especially with stacatto passages. .
>
> I have not expereinced this with my other
> mouthpicee.Is it just because I'm not used to this 2RV
> yet? Shall I give this more time and concentrate on
> prevent the leak and the squaking? Or is this the
> wrong mouth piece for me?
>
> Thanks in advance for your advice.
>
> Vic Brincat
>
> =====
>
> Vic Brincat
>
> 1958 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham (#402), 1953 Cadillac Series
> Sixty-Two Convertible
>
> http://www.eldobrghm.com/EB/index.htm
>
> AOL Instant Messenger ID: CadManof50s, Yahoo! Messenger ID: CadManof50s
>
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>

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