 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Richard Ruppel
Date: 2000-02-21 02:03
Dear All: About a year ago, you all advised me on buying a clarinet for my daughter. With your help, we settled on a Buffett Festival--a nice instrument.
It came, of course, with a "blank" mouthpiece, and she's still using her old one. We need to buy a new one, of course, and I have two questions:
First, where's a good place to order mouthpieces to try out?
Second, she just entered a solo and ensemble competition. She did very well--she'll be competing at the state competition in two months--but the judge noted that her tone was too harsh (something that I also hear). Is there a mouthpiece that will help her produce a more mellow sound?
Many thanks in advance for your help!
Richard
RJRuppel@Viterbo.edu
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2000-02-21 02:33
Richard,
Since you live not too far from Chicago (at least judging from your email address), may I suggest that you make a Saturday trip over to International Musical Suppliers in Des Plaines (I know, it's a 4 hour run, but mostly I-90, and you'll be happy with their selection). Just call Lisa Argeris at IMS ahead of time and make sure a trial room is available.
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Author: paul
Date: 2000-02-21 15:51
I have some limited experience with the Buffet Festival. I am an adult novice and the only horn I have is a Bb Festival (1994 vintage). Try out the good Vandoren mps, such as 5RVLyre, B45, M13 (make sure they are very good ones and that the woodwind tech tweaks them for you to take out mass produced defects). Also consider a custom made pro grade mp. These aren't cheap, but the sound is very much instantly better. I can say this because I put a custom made Borbeck 13 pro grade mp on top of my Festival and the produced tone was significantly better than I had ever heard before. Even my wife (a first soprano amateur singer) noticed the highly improved sound. It was very mellow and rich, especially with Vandoren V-12 reeds. You will find Borbeck's phone number in the Equipment section of this BBS. Also, consider the Smith mps, and other mp customizers. I believe all of them will bend over backwards to make a mp that your daughter (and the judges) will really like a lot. Seek the mp customizers who were students of the late Frank Kaspar, because his mp design tends to produce a highly sought after tone, especially for classical music.
Again, there is a big catch with fetching a customized mp. They are not cheap. But, of course, neither is the Festival clarinet. If you want quality, you have to pay for it.
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