 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Marie from New York
Date: 2009-04-17 00:58
A friend of mine is rejuvenating and reworking my grandfather's old (1925?) mouthpiece. He says it's turning out to be a great mouthpiece. Anybody want to share tips on playing on a wood mouthpiece? Is it likely to be wildly variant in pitch?
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Author: eefer ★2017
Date: 2009-04-18 21:26
I have been playing exclusively on wooden mouthpieces since January of 2000. Pitch-wise, they are not any different than rubber. One just needs someone who understands how to make a good one.
They do require a little extra care, in that they need to be oiled. Since I play on mine for a few hours every day, they are oiled once a week. I dip them in sweet almond oil that I buy in the grocery. Then I stand them on a couple of thicknesses of paper towel for about 30 minutes to drain. Then they are wrapped in plastic wrap until they are ready to be used. when they are unwrapped for use, any excess oil is rubbed into my hands and then on the wooden part of my clarinets. The oil in the chamber of the mouthpiece gets into the bore of my clarinet. I like what it does for my sound. I know there are people out there who think this is damaging to an instrument. I have never encountered any problems instrument-wise, only the afore-mentioned benefits.
I have six wooden mouthpieces. I buy them in pairs because I like having a matching spare. I have two from Greg Smith, two from Mike Lomax and two from Morrie Backun (my faves). And sometimes it is more convenient to have a mouthpiece on my A and Bb when I am playing them both in orchestra. When playing in wierd meter combinations, with lots of bars of rest and many instrument changes, those two mouthpieces are worth every cent they cost!
The reason I choose wood over rubber or plastic is that it cuts harshness from the sound, and adds a little more of the "woody" sound that is unique to clarinets (that sound the harkens to striking the bars on a marimba or xylophone).
Nancy Buckman
AACC Symphony Orchestra
Opera AACC
Early Music Society of Northern MD
(and a lot of other ensembles, too)
nebuckman@gmail.com
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Author: Brenda Siewert
Date: 2009-04-19 22:40
I also have played on a wooden mouthpiece. Mine was modeled after my Kaspar Cicero 13 and made by Greg Smith. A fine mouthpiece with wonderful tone and intonation.
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Author: pewd
Date: 2009-04-20 00:03
>sometimes it is more convenient to have a mouthpiece on my A and Bb
ah ha, finally, someone else does that besides me
- Paul Dods
Dallas, Texas
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