 The Fingering Forum
|
Author: michael
Date: 2004-06-21 00:18
which is the best/better material for a clarinet mouthpiece? plastic, crystal, or rubber? what are some brands any of you suggest? and speaking of materials can a clarinet be made of crystal? a girl who played in a band with me had a clear clarinet. i don't know what it was made of but you could see though it and it had copper or red keys. i wasn't really that close to it. it was so beautiful. anyway what is the best material for a clarinet mouthpiece and can a clarinet be made of crystal( not just for show but to actually be played)?
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Theboy_2
Date: 2004-06-21 02:12
hmm, plastic mouthpieces are cheap, and are usually the stock mouthpieces you get when you buy a clarinet, so plastic isn't the best quality. hard rubber mouthpieces are very good, the best known hard rubber mouthpiece is thte Vandoren B45. that mouthpiece is usually what the great quality crystal mouthpiece are usually modelled after. a crystal mouthpiece is as good as a quality hard rubber, if not better. there are reasons to get a crystal mouthpiece and then theres some to not. the denser a meterial, the less sound and warmth of sound is lost, thats why woodwinds are made out of hardwood, and not soft, you'll never see a cedar clarinet. that applies to mouthpieces to. hard rubber will suck up a very tiny bit of sound, but a crystal will not, it's a very dense mouthpiece. that is good for if you are in a big band, like a symphony, your sound would cut through better then a hard rubber mouthpiece. a crystal mouthpiece also has zero half life, meaning if it is dropped, it is broken, there is no way to fix it. whereas, a hard rubber can be dropped more then once and still live to play again. a hard rubber mouthpiece will do you fine, if you have the money and are careful, it might be worth it. can a clarient be made out of crystal? it's possible, but that would have to be a big piece of crystal, and a lot of money, crystal isn't cheap. hope this helps.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Joel Clifton
Date: 2004-06-21 15:50
Plastic mouthpieces can be good. The stock mouthpiece that came with my R-13 is absolute crap, but ever since I started playing about 8 years ago I've used a Hite Premiere, and they are quite cheap (around $25) and very, very good. My clarinet teacher has had no complaints about my sound. I tried an M13 and M15, and wasn't any happier with the sound.
My teacher uses a crystal mouthpiece and sounds absolutely wonderful, but I'm sure she could sound good on a cheaper mouthpiece too.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: D
Date: 2004-06-24 17:45
crystal is the very best however the most expensive and never take it outside, air tempiture changes are too big a risk, they crack just from a quick change
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
