 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Luke
Date: 2003-11-08 13:04
Hi, I'm an alto sax player who's trying to get reasonably good at doubling on clarinet for orchestral purposes. I'm looking for a good mouthpiece in the $50-$70 price range. Based on suggestions and hearsay I've narrowed it down to these three:
-Ignatius Gennusa Excellente
-Portnoy BP01
-Vandoren Profile 88 M15
I'm looking for a good (dark) tone with nice warmth and colour as well as a quick response and good intonation, as I'll be using it on a student clarinet and I need to compensate for its lack of good tone. I'm going to use it with an inverted Bonade ligature and either Vandoren Trads/V12's or Alexander Classiques. Anyone have some opinions of these pieces?
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Author: fred-jazz
Date: 2003-11-08 13:33
I use and recommend the Vandoren B45, but I have read about their M15 and of course it sounds great, but that is their literature. Remember that read hardness will need to vary with facing lenght and openess, so you need to experiment. I use a 3.5, if you want to go a little lighter I used to recomment the Vandoren B55, but that is no longer in prduction.
Ligature is basically irrelevant unless you are not tightening it at all, which is a bad idea. Your lip will hold the reed firmly anyway, read my ligature description on that list.
I regularly play my students clarinets and find the newer models work extremely well and get a good sound with my mouthpiece. Wood is better only because woodworking tools are easier to use by artisans, so the fine details of the tone holes are usually better cut on the expensive models, but any horn which doesn't leak is a good horn. I once brought my old metal clarinet to a job for fun and the other musicians couldn't tell the difference in sound, but I could feel the keys were not as well positioned as in my nice Buffet R13.
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Author: BobD
Date: 2003-11-08 13:40
"Wood is better only because woodworking tools are easier to use by artisans, so the fine details of the tone holes are usually better cut on the expensive models, "
Can't say I fully agree with that.....but your comments are interesting.
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Author: GBK
Date: 2003-11-08 14:41
fred-jazz said:
> I use and recommend the Vandoren B45...
Not for beginning students I hope....GBK
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2003-11-08 15:10
Well put, GBK, much better to get a " student mp", Hite et al, if the "stock" is determined to be that poor. We see the promotion of the B45's here, and suspect its due to some motivation from music stores. Guess I'm on my soap-box this AM, but am drawn into the fray via minor repairs and giving free advice! Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: Luke
Date: 2003-11-08 16:10
I've been playing clarinet on-and-off for a few years now and am using something similar to a Hite, that's why I'm seeking a piece with greater tone and better playability. The clarinet I have is on the upper-end of student models and I've tweaked it a bit so it plays pretty well. I know from playing sax how important a good mouthpiece is and I'm pretty familiar with mouthpiece lingo 'n that.
By the way, does anyone have experience with the Pomarico crystal on clarinet? I have for for alto sax and love it.
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2003-11-08 16:30
Luke, I have Pomaricos, #3s, open tips, for both alto and bass cls, and a refaced [to 5RVL] glass O'Brien and a Selmer Clarion for sops, and believe they're the best I've found [am verycareful!!], among a number of HRs and plastics. There are many good ones out there IMHO. Even tho I can afford more mps, I dont want to spend the time for careful testing/selection for playing. Don
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Author: jo.clarinet
Date: 2003-11-08 18:18
'Weapons of Mass Intonation' would make a brilliant new thread!
My nomination: my junior recorder ensemble before I have dealt with them!
Joanna Brown
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Author: Micaela
Date: 2003-11-09 05:09
What strength reeds are you using? The Vandoren M15 (my mouthpiece of choice) is designed for harder reeds- as in 3.5 minimum. I ask because I know saxophone players often want to use softer clarinet reeds- I don't know if this is the case with you. The M15 does have a pleasantly dark sound and works very well for me. My one slight beef is staccato is not quite as easy as it is on some other mouthpieces I have played, though I put up with this because I love the tone.
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2003-11-09 12:50
Micaela - I assume you are asking this question of many of us. I have found, using moderately open tip, medium "length of curve" mps, and only infrequently venturing into the altissimo, that medium-soft/medium reeds give me good clarion and "clean" chalameau response. 2's, 2 1/2, Lavoz med-soft/med for bass/alto/sop, I have some 1 1/2 TS's and use my reed trimmer to harden, after polishing the backs on fine emery [SiC] paper. Works for me. Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: Bob A
Date: 2003-11-09 23:15
'Weapons of Mass Intonation' = The College of Cardinals?
Bob A
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Author: D Dow
Date: 2003-11-10 13:49
For sax doubles the B45 is pretty good in that it is not too closed a facing.
There is also the M30 which is quite nice. I think one can make a lot more embouchure mistakes on the B45 though with a 3 reed and live for another day!
David Dow
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