Klarinet Archive - Posting 000269.txt from 2009/10
From: Diego Casadei <casadei.diego@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Clarinet Mouthpieces
Date: Mon, 26 Oct 2009 03:53:23 -0400
Dear Kevin,
I should have phrased my thoughts more carefully... because my opinion
is not that much different from yours. For me, Vandoren 3.5 is "hard"
and 2 is "soft": I did not want to consider extreme cases at all. The
reason is that I do not know anybody who is able to get good results
using extremely soft or hard reeds. In addition, I had the impression
that the original post was coming from a somewhat intermediate-level
player who has already some experience and does not need extremely soft
reeds (usually used by first-time beginners, at least in Italy), so that
I implicitly assumed that he would not be interested in extreme cases.
So, let me rephrase my comment this way: I suggest using relatively
harder reeds on closer mouthpieces rather than relatively softer ones on
more open mouthpieces.
I personally use Vandoren 3 to 3.5 with a B40 and find myself spending
some time on each reed to make it work as I like, independently from the
original number (I could say that I'm trying to create 3.25 for myself).
The B40 is quite open, so that the reeds are a bit hard for it, but
this is possible because my Patricola clarinets are very spontaneous.
Before 1999 I was playing Buffet clarinets (the last was a Festival)
with several flavours of B45 instead and almost the same reed types.
What is fundamental is to spend a lot of time in testing new solutions.
For example, even though few years ago I decided to switch from B45 to
B40 because of the different sound, I was not able to do it immediately.
After 3-4 months I picked up a M30, which is somewhat intermediate,
and played it for more than one year. Finally I went back to the B40
and after a few months I discovered that I was able to obtain a good
sound from it: I'm still playing with it.
Best regards,
Diego
PS. There is a fact in my last message that is not simply an opinion,
and it is what I said about harmonics. However, personal feeling is not
limited to it, so that the physical fact does not translate into a
universal meaning for everybody. The only good suggestion is to try,
and to do it for long time (months, not hours).
Kevin Fay wrote:
> Diego Casadei posted:
>
> <<<Well, I'd like to comment that, _given_ that you are able to get the
> sound that you like most without problems, it's better to couple a harder
> reed with a closer mouthpiece than vice versa. A harder reed is
> mechanically better than a weaker one, which degrades more quickly and (on
> the average) tends to be richer in high harmonics (for those who care, this
> means a "brighter" sound and a larger probability to squeak).>>>
>
> The assertion that " it's better to couple a harder reed with a closer
> mouthpiece than vice versa " is not fact, but Diego's opinion/conjecture.
>
> My experience is that a "medium" reed - say, about a 3 or 3.5 on Vandoren's
> scale - works better to produce the tone, ease of articulation and
> flexibility I want for performance. I find this to be true on any of the
> custom mouthpieces I've used - Backun/Morales, Greg Smith, Richard Hawkins,
> Dan Johnston or Roger Garrett - as well as the various commercial Pomaricos,
> Vandorens, Woodwinds, Yamahas that I have in the closet.
>
> My opinion is no more valid than Diego's, of course. Based purely on
> anecdotal evidence (the professional clarinet players I know and/or have
> worked with over the years), however, I think it's much more commonly held
> than Diego's.
>
> This doesn't mean you can't get a good sound from stiff reeds and a closed
> mouthpiece with a long lay. (This would rule out a lot of folks in Germany
> and Austria.) Nevertheless, I don't think that there is a significant
> portion of American clarinetists who grab the stiffies and then try to find
> a mouthpiece that works with them.
>
> If you are not a particularly accomplished player - and especially if you're
> using a student/intermediate instrument - I'll echo Nancy Buckman and
> suggest that you try a Fobes Debut. It's a good, mainstream mouthpiece
> that's *very* reasonably priced.
>
> Vandorens will cost at least twice what the Fobes does. Some of them are
> very good mouthpieces indeed. Other than the M40, however, the tip rails
> tend to be quite narrow - unless the tips of your reeds match precisely, you
> might have more of a tendency to develop inadvertent register changes (i.e.,
> squeaks). I have a B45 Dot that gets a beautiful sound, but won't use it in
> performance for this reason.
>
> OTOH, if you're a professional-caliber player and a gearhead, buy one of
> everything and knock yourself out. Searching for the Holy Grail is a
> popular recreational activity; goodness knows I've spent way too much time
> and money on it myself. (If you find it, do tell!)
>
> kjf
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------
>
--
Diego Casadei, PhD.
Physics Department, CERN
New York University bld. 32, S-A19
4 Washington Place 1211 Geneve 23
New York, NY 10003 Mailbox J28310
USA Switzerland
office: +1-212-998-7675 office: +41-22-767-6809
mobile: +39-347-1460488 mobile: +41-76-213-5376
http://cern.ch/casadei/ Diego.Casadei@-----.ch
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