Klarinet Archive - Posting 000117.txt from 2006/01

From: "Keith" <bowenk@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl] Mouthpiece selection
Date: Mon, 16 Jan 2006 17:18:32 -0500

I have just had the pleasurable experience of selecting new mouthpieces at
Walter Grabner's workshop/home. I did veer away from the "unstable flight"
analogy that Tony draws, though I do not deny its validity for people who
play much more than I.
However though the argument (that a less controllable mouthpiece may be the
best choice for a highly skilled player) may be true, the flight analogy is
but an analogy not a proof.

Walter makes a point on his website that certain of his mouthpiece designs
are "Legere friendly". I definitely found this to be the case compared with
other mouthpieces I have used. It is not hype!

After trying many, I settled on a "Chicago" model for Bb/A, which worked
very well with a range of reeds, both cane and Legere, but did not seem to
me to contain compromises in either case. It worked very well with reeds
between 3.25 and 4 in strength, and this allows "fine tuning" of the setup
for different circumstances. Though to take Joe Fasel's point, I did have to
change the reed from my "favourite" with my previous mouthpiece. The sound
production is excellent at all volumes, and of particular note is the
excellent articulation obtained with all his mouthpieces.

I also bought an E flat mouthpiece, mainly to improve my ability in the
altissimo register (I need "eefer on kill" for a gig shortly) and this again
was excellent.

As others have remarked, it is a pleasure to deal with Walter. He remarked
when I came in that he was not going to push anything on to me that was not
right for me, since he would have no trouble selling any of the mouthpieces
in the shop anyway. He has a very acute ear, and his feedback on the sound,
intonation and pros/cons of each mouthpiece tried was invaluable.

He also loved my Steve Fox instruments, offering to swap all the mouthpieces
I could see in his shop for the eefer. And his "angled German" mouthpiece
worked very well with the basset horn, so we can add his name to Clark Fobes
for "narrow bore basset horn mouthpieces".

Keith Bowen

> -----Original Message-----
> From:
> klarinet-return-85850-bowenk=compuserve.com@-----.org
> [mailto:klarinet-return-85850-bowenk=compuserve.com@-----.o
> rg] On Behalf Of Tony Pay
> Sent: 16 January 2006 17:06
> To: klarinet@-----.org
> Subject: Re: [kl] Mouthpiece selection
>
>
> On 16 Jan, "Geoff & Sherryl-Lee Secomb"
> <gsecomb@-----.au> wrote:
>
> > I've just finished helping a young client select a new clarinet
> > mouthpiece, and was struck by how much an individuals
> choices can be
> > dictated by 'how comfortable' (or familiar) rather than 'how
> > appropriate' the results are. I have a trombone playing friend who
> > once told me that he doesn't really like the mouthpiece he
> plays, but
> > he plays it anyway (interpreted as meaning he doesn't find it
> > comfortable, but he likes the results it gives.)
> >
> > It set me thinking and wondering how often I might have fallen into
> > the same trap, mistaking comfort (or similarity to what I have been
> > using) for best choice.
>
> Yes, I think you've put your finger on a major difficulty
> there. That something feels 'comfortable' may often
> translate into that you don't have to be quite so precise
> about how you address it, or relatedly, that it's more
> forgiving of reeds. Nevertheless, it may limit what you can
> do, compared to something 'less comfortable'.
>
> I made a post about this a few years ago:
>
> http://test.woodwind.org/Databases/Klarinet/2001/09/000047.txt
>
> Tony
> --
> _________ Tony Pay
> |ony:-) 79 Southmoor Rd tony.p@-----.org
> | |ay Oxford OX2 6RE

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