 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: kdk
Date: 2010-10-02 15:50
The current thread about Kaspars revives an old question for me. When I was growing up and studying in the late 1950s through the early 1970s, Chedeville was looked on by the clarinetists I knew as nearly the equivalent of a Strad string instrument, with Kaspars in tight competition. Which you worshipped more depended on the exact tone concept you were after. But everyone I knew either played on or was in a constant search for one of the two.
But all the players I knew personally or knew anything about were American players, most of whom had either studied at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia or had primary teachers who had studied there. Occasionally I'd run into a clarinetist trained in one of the schools in New York, and their attitudes seemed similar. At the time I had no connection with nor any real awareness of orchestral clarinet playing outside of those excellent but fairly inbred circles. So the question I keep wondering about is whether those two mouthpiece companies enjoyed the same popularity in Europe then, or for that matter, whether even now Ched and Kaspar evoke the same kind of almost mystical worship they do here. Were there other popular brands in Europe that players would have sought more than Kaspar or Chedeville?
Karl
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Author: Liquorice
Date: 2010-10-02 17:36
In my experience, the names Kaspar and Chedeville don't mean much to many professional clarinet players in Europe. I became interested in these mouthpieces because of modern mouthpieces made in these styles, but most of my colleagues don't know anything about these historical makers. Even the players who buy, for example, a Greg Smith Kaspar, will say that they play a Greg Smith mouthpiece, without having any idea what the "K" stands for on their mouthpiece!
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Author: kdk
Date: 2010-10-02 18:29
What back in the mid-20th century would the serious players have been using? If they're now buying Greg Smith "Kaspar" models, what has happened to the popular (among the top players) European mouthpieces of the past?
Karl
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Author: sonicbang
Date: 2010-10-02 19:13
I can say I know few clarinettist here in Hungary and I can say that Vandoren is the most popular here. There are not too much music store here. I heard about Kaspar and Chedeville first when I made some search on the net. When I tried to convince the boss of music store to bring some new brands to this country, he said there is not enough interest. Hungarian music market is virtually occupied by Vandoren.
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2010-10-02 19:43
The reason a mouthpiece like the ones mentioned is that a few very excellent players used them and several became well known teachers and pretty much insisted that all their students play on the same mouthpiece or people thought that if they played on the same mouthpiece as a player they admired, some are still like that, they would get the same sound, wrong. There are many players that use or have used Cheds or Kaspars that sound great but a great many more that use them that don't really sound very good. It's not the name of the mouthpiece that makes someone sound really good. I think when they were being manufactured only here in the USA they weren't very well known in Europe, especially those using the German system clarinet. The world was a much larger place back then. ESP http://eddiesclarinet.com
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Author: Liquorice
Date: 2010-10-02 21:24
kdk: hold on- I didn't mean to give the impression that most top players play Greg Smith Kaspars! Just that, of those pros that I know who do play on something like that, they don't necessarily know anything about who Kaspar was.
I can't speak for the 50s and 60s because I wasn't around then! I'm sure some mouthpiece experts would be able to help you. You could try contacting experts like Ramon Wodkowski and Ed Pillinger who have studied vintage mouthpieces that older English and French players used.
What I can say is this- in the last 15 years I've seen a growth in the amount of European players who are trying and playing American mouthpieces. As Ed Palanker says, the world has become a much smaller place. There's also been a growth in the number of other popular European mouthpiece makers, like Viotto, Wodkowski, Eaton and Licostini. But even though players are becoming more open to trying other brands, the dominant mouthpiece amongst Boehm players is still Vandoren.
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2010-10-02 21:49
I think the reason that Vandorens are so popular around the world is that they are very good. There is a hugh selection to choose from, easily available and they keep upgrading and making changes as they see the need and demand. Also probably one of the most important reasons is that they are very affordable. They're a very smart company. ESP
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Author: Gregory Smith ★2017
Date: 2010-10-04 05:46
Nope William. I play my own Chedeville style (and have for many years) in the CSO.
I had always played Kaspars up to joining the orchestra but found that for Orchestra Hall Chicago, and in this particular WW section, the Chedeville style that I made for myself played most comfortably.
If it were some other acoustic and some other WW section, (as was the case in Davies Hall with the SF Symphony), the Kaspar mouthpiece seemed ideal at that time.
Gregory Smith
http://www.gregory-smith.com
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