 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: beejay
Date: 2003-01-23 21:53
Has anyone tried both the Vandoren B40 and the B45, or B45 dot. I'd appreciate a word about their respective merits.
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Author: Mark P. Jasuta
Date: 2003-01-23 23:43
Beejay,
Have you considered the Vandoren M30? It may be the best of both worlds. Vandoren's specs and reed recommendations are below. My daughter has one and says it sounds like a B40 and is as easy to play as the B45 Dot. (with harder reeds of course)
Mark
Opening: 115/100 mm
Facing: Long
Recommended reeds: Traditional numbers 3-3,5-4 and V.12 numbers 3,5-4-4,5
Comment : Designed to provide more flexibility, the M30 incorporates a very long facing and a large tip rail to produce a mouthpiece similar in sonority to the B40, with easier sound production qualities.
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Author: d dow
Date: 2003-01-24 12:23
Dear BJ: As a professional I have worked almost 20 years now and studied in Paris with Guy Dangain and will list below my feelings on the whole issue of which is Superior:
In my opinion the B40 is overall the better mouthpiece because:
The scale is very even and centred and I find this allows for more flexible control over the pitch.
The B40 has a ring on the sound which is very nice, and allows for excellent dynamics becuase of the wider tip rail design.
The B45 is very good, however I have always felt that it tends to play chaotically in the throat register. The sound in this area on the B45 I find the hardest part to accept.
Quality control on the B45's seems to be quite low. They vary so much from one another I find this discouraging.
I use the B40 mouthpiece orchestrally fairly often and in band and find it allows for excellent blending.
The bore work of the B40 is quite different from any other mouthpiece in the vandoren line due to some tapering towards the top of the baffle. This taper gives a refinement of tone not on the other mouthpiece(except from the M30 and M15).
In spite of the complaint some have of the resistance of the B40(I have also spoke of this too) the B40 yields a very deep sound and with the right mathced reed is easy to play and control. I have always found matching reeds to the B45 difficult.
Jean Paul Gauvin is the brain child of the B40 and his innovation is designing a mouthpiece that allows for fuller sonority...this mouthpiece was designed to get a fuller more focused sound.
The B45 tends to spread a bit...especially in the mid lower chalumeau.
As for looking for B40s, spend some time going through a number of them, this allows for you to find the right one. I still retain two B40s becuase of the excellent sonority. I tried about 60 or so, until a former teacher came up with the two I now play on.
Once you start playing your mouthpiece stick with it. be sure to use a reed knife to adjust reeds and keep some sandpaper as well. When you have a balanced reed for this mouthpiece it works exceptionally well (the B40).
Sincerely
DD
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Author: david dow
Date: 2003-01-24 14:37
Just a few words on the b45. dot mouthpiece, these have a somewhat larger exit baffle where the bore meets and produce a more open and are actually quite nice.
However, if you are looking for a birghter sound these are just for you.
Personally I don't care for the sound of the B45dot, and they are very far away from the focus of the B40.
I have some students though who really like the B45 dot and sound very nice on them.
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Author: beejay
Date: 2003-01-24 15:55
David,
Many thanks for your very helpful comments. Up to now, I've been playing on a beautiful Charles Bay mpc with 2.5 reeds, which is excellent for chamber music but not very powerful. I have joined an orchestra in which all the other clarinets have B45s and I was having trouble blending, which is why I was looking for a new mouthpiece. I first thought of getting the B40, which I have on my basset horn. It plays very easily and sweetly on No. 3 reeds, but the B40s I tried on a soprano clarinet seemed much harder to blow. I wonder, is this inherent in the smaller instrument?
In the event, I ended up by getting a B45 dot, which combined ease of blowing with a lot of power. You are right, however -- it is very bright. I've dampened it down somewhat by using a Rovner ligature, and my colleagues in the orchestra like the sound. My teacher (a great friend of Guy Dangain, by the way) is not so keen, so I keep the Charles Bay for lessons.
When I get some more time, I'll head back to Vandoren and try some more B40s. It's amazing how much mpcs of the same make and model can differ so absolutely. I admire your fortitude in trying 60.
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Author: Brenda Siewert
Date: 2003-01-24 15:58
You might do a search for these. They have been discussed quite a bit here on the board.
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Author: Vytas
Date: 2003-01-24 16:35
I play exceptionally good B45. Actually my B45 has the same characteristics as David described for B40... Go figure... I've tried several B40 but found them to resistant to my liking.
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Author: Peter
Date: 2003-01-24 19:02
I agree with David's advice above.
I own (and intermittently play) two B-40s. I tried the B-45 and found it stuffy and difficult to play. The B-40 is definitely my choice. (My son, Daniel, prefers the B-46.)
HOWEVER: You have to make your own choice through trial of several of each mouthpiece before you buy one of whichever you decide on.
When dealing with music instruments, especially the clarinet, what's sauce for the goose, is not often sauce for the gander!
Perhaps it's because of my choice of reeds (Glotin #2.5,) but I have had no noticeable resistance problems whatsoever with the B-40, in fact, I've found the two I have to be pretty free blowing. But while not all of them I tried were quite so free blowing, there were some other B-40s I tried that were even more free blowing than the ones I have.
Like David said, try about 60 of 'em... but when you find the right one(s,) I doubt you'll will regret the effort incurred.
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Author: GBK
Date: 2003-01-24 19:31
(with no disrespect to Vytas, david dow, etc...)
an "...exceptionally good B45..."
A classic oxymoron, if there ever was one...GBK
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Author: Alphie
Date: 2003-01-24 23:38
beejay, last time I was at Vandoren I tried 15 B40s and came out with three of them. I use all of them since they feel very much the same to blow and if a reed doesn't work on one it will work on the other. To have three similar MPs makes it possible to play at least 50 % more reeds from a box.
When you are at Vandoren don't hesitate to speak to Mr. Gouvin, the designer of B40. He has his office upstairs by the MP-"testboxes". He's a very helpful man and he can work on your MP on the spot if necessary.
Alphie
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Author: Clarence
Date: 2003-01-25 03:40
I played a B45dot for about 4 months. I didn't find it to be any brighter than the other Vandoren mouthpieces that I tried. It could be a little harsh sounding on some V12 3 1/2 reeds.
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