Klarinet Archive - Posting 000010.txt from 2008/01

From: kurtheisig@-----.net
Subj: Re: [kl] Mouthpiece Suggestions Please
Date: Tue, 01 Jan 2008 22:35:18 -0500

Kevin,

I played 9 years in the local Italian band, until Jimmy dal Porto hung up his Cordovox at age 86. Using one of my HEISIG Mouthpieces I had NO problem being clearly heard in our large local Elks Hall. One of my students went throughout the building to see if I was carrying WITHOUT a mic. She heard me OVER the AMPLIFIED band, not only in the hall but in all the side rooms.

Kurt

Kurt Heisig Mouthpieces
(831) 425-5658

-----Original Message-----
>From: Kevin Fay <kevin.fay.home@-----.net>
>Sent: Jan 1, 2008 5:37 PM
>To: klarinet@-----.org
>Subject: [kl] Mouthpiece Suggestions Please
>
>I have a rather large collection of clarinet mouthpieces, filling up most of
>a drawer. I would feel comfortable playing an orchestral concert on at
>least a half dozen of them.
>
>. . . but this is not my immediate need.
>
>I also play in a rather an eclectic loosely-organized group whose repertoire
>changes a great deal depending on what we've been hired to play. For
>example, last month we played at an Argentine tango festival. Lacking access
>to bandoneons - and anyone with the ability to play them - we covered the
>parts with doubled oboes and (in my case) a C clarinet.
>
>Last night, we were hired by a local ballroom dance studio to play swing
>standards, with a dash of Xavier Cugat, finishing well after midnight with a
>set of 70's and 80's tunes that must have been arranged by Tommy Velour or
>Nick the Lounge Singer. (John Denver, the Carpenters etc. - even a Velveeta
>cheese arrangement of The Hustle.) This was a *great* gig - the dancers
>loved us and we got paid. We were even given champagne along with everyone
>else to toast the new year.
>
>The only sound reinforcement used was for the bass player. We balance
>nicely; our brass players don't overblow so we don't have to mike the
>saxophones. Nevertheless, on a couple of the tunes the clarinet did get
>buried, esp. on the Dixieland stuff. There's only so much that one clarinet
>can do when faced with two trombones, three trumpets and the rest of the sax
>section on a shout chorus.
>
>I do not need a "good" mouthpiece - I have many of them. What I need here
>is a *LOUD* mouthpiece. Something appropriate for a street parade, say in
>New Orleans or Mumbai. We may actually have a street parade coming up, so I
>can use some help here.
>
>Any suggestions?
>
>kjf
>
>
>
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