The Clarinet BBoard

ESM mouthpieces

Author: sonicbang  Date:   2017-08-02 10:59 I heard good things about ESM mouthpieces in this BBoard and became curious about them. Although I have more than enough mouthpieces, I'm always to experimet new approaches, designs, materials. I'm aware of another older thread about ESM mouthpieces, however I decided to start a new one since it seems I had the chance to try the most different models and designs. So I wrote an email to the company to send some mouthpieces to try bacause there is no dealer here in Hungary. I got reply from the manager Cornelia Kinzelmann who was kind and helpful. I asked three MCK1 facings and one MB facing. I won't paste their description, if you are interested, you can visit their site. Finally I got 7 (!) mouthpieces to try: MCK1 black MCK1 black with metal rings MCK1 blue heaven with metal rings MCK2 black MB1 black MB2 black MB3 black And I even got some candies in the box First of all, we are all know those reliable student mouthpieces from different makers. So I assume most of you (just as I had) some preconception about acrylic mouthpieces as they are for students. Well, I must say all of these mouthpieces are professional quality by every mean. Consistency is outstanding and the finish is really nice. All the MCK1 models can take the same reed and I got the same excellent response. The metal rings on the tenon really gives some extra focus and projection to the sound. The black acrylic in general produces a warmer sound comparing to the blue one. As I understand, blue mouthpieces always come with metal tenon rings. Only thing to consider, that the metal ring really adds some extra weight to the instrument. For those, who has joints problem it may be not the best solution in the lon run. The MCK2 has the same close tip (1.03 as I remember) as the MCK1 but has bit longer facing. The sound quality is warm and dark, but still has good projection. Large interval steps like the ones in Bassi's Rigoletto Fantasy are really smooth. The MB models are a bit more opened but not sure about the specs. I would say they are somewhere between the 5RV and the 11.6. The facings are well engineered and regarding volume, their range is huge and easily maintain the timbre in all dynamics are registers. However, in the past 7-8 years I gravitated towards more closed facings, so not especially my cup of tea. For some time my two favourites were the MC1 blue and the MCK2, and finally after trying different reeds, making some short recordings etc. I choose the blue one. However, I could easily play the next performances on any of the MCKs. In a many year old post Dave Spiegelthal wrote that every mouthpiece is like a package deal. The tip, rails, facing, chamber, bore, material and so on have to be harmonious and should work together to give a good playing experience. I think ESM succeeded in this. Reeds I used for testing: Vandoren Rue Lepic 56 3.5, V21 3.5, Arundos 3, 3+, Behn Aria 3.5. Ligatures: Ishimori Gold, Selmer (older one, regular), Rovner Dark (disclaimer: I paid full price for the muthpiece, I was not asked to write a rewiev and has nothing to gain doing this. Well if you don't count the extra candies...) Mark

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