Klarinet Archive - Posting 000041.txt from 2009/03

From: "Michael Platt" <wolfi622@-----.net>
Subj: RE: [kl] Mouthpiece-Inspired Madness
Date: Mon, 09 Mar 2009 16:47:33 -0400

May have been covered already, but if you're thinking of going down the =
Greg
Smith path suggested below, also consider Gennusa "Excellente" =
mouthpieces
made by Ben Redwine. He also will send several for trial and help you
narrow it down. Very fine mouthpieces and an enjoyable exercise as =
well.
I'm playing one of these almost exclusively now since late fall and it's =
a
great mouthpiece (for a very reasonable price).

Michael P

-----Original Message-----
From: Susan Kundert [mailto:ohsuzan@-----.com]=20
Sent: Monday, March 09, 2009 1:04 PM
To: klarinet@-----.org
Subject: Re: [kl] Mouthpiece-Inspired Madness

Dear Bechi,

The free-est blowing mouthpiece I have ever tried is the Clark Fobes
CF line. You can pay anywhere from a little (the Debut) to a lot (the
San Francisco). Each price point increase results in a more refined
sound, but the basic character of the mouthpiece is the same.

I thought I would never like a mouthpiece better than the Fobes SF,
until I tried the mouthpieces made by Greg Smith.
http://www.gregory-smith.com/
These are custom mouthpieces. He will send you several different
facings to try on "for size," and then several of the model you
choose. I can't say enough good things about both the mouthpiece and
the maker. It absolutely transformed my husband's tone and intonation,
and it was a very pleasant process getting there.

If you've got a few bucks to put into this, I believe you would do
well to try Greg.

Susan

2009/3/9 Bechi <bechi@-----.net>
>
> I've been wanting to buy a new mouthpiece for quite some time now. =
=A0Hell!
=A0Maybe even TWO new mouthpieces just for the sheer joy of it! =A0My =
problem is
that I'm just completely and utterly intimidated by the prospect of =
finding
one, let alone two! =A0I've been playing for about 2 years now after a =
20 year
hiatus so I think my embouchure has more or less reasonable "settled",
although I'm sure that it's always a work in progress.
>
> My current set up is a Selmer 10S with the HS* mouthpiece my high =
school
band director's wife insisted I play, Legere Quebec-cut (3=BC) and =
Vandoren 56
Rue Lepic (3=BD) reeds, Rovner Eddie Daniels and Bois Delrin ligatures. =
=A0I'm
not 100% sure what I'm talking about when using lingo, but I believe I'm
looking for a mouthpiece that is free and easy blowing (I tend to =
COMPLETELY
lose my embouchure after a few hours of playing) and that can help tune =
the
A & B just under the altissimo register which are horrifically sharp for =
me
even when almost everything else is moderately in tune.
>
> So far, so good. =A0Here's the part where I want to pull the covers =
over my
head and hide - there's only a bazillion mouthpieces out there, each one
coming in multiple flavors, and from what I hear, further variations =
between
each individual representative of each flavor! =A0I'm prepared to =
taste-test a
dozen or so candidates to find *the one* (or two!), but just finding a
reasonable sample to start with seems impossible! =A0My latest thought =
is
perhaps limiting myself to a few samples from Walter Grabner's and =
Morrie
Backun's offerings; my rationale being that being hand crafted, there =
will
be no "klunkers" per se, each mouthpiece either works with me and my =
horn or
it doesn't (chances are it's not just a bad representative of that
particular mouthpiece). =A0Does that make sense? =A0If so, would =
test-driving
one of each model I'm interested in be sufficient to start? =A0Would it =
then
be necessary to try 2 or 3 additional samples of each "finalist"?
>
> Help!
>
> Thanks,
>
> Bechi
>
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> The 2009 Woodwind.Org Donation Drive is going on right now - see
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>

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