 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: George Stalle
Date: 2009-02-23 23:30
I'm tired of paying a fortune for those stinkin' little rubber patches for mouthpieces. I like them because they provide a more secure base for beginner embouchures.
I also like using them because it opens up the oral cavity by a fraction.
At any rate, I went to Home Depot and bought a thicker rubber plumbers tape to cut up and use but need a good adhesive for it. Would that sticky drymoutn spray that you buy at art supply stores be a good adhesive and has anyone tried a similar do-it-yourself approach with success
Thanks.
George Stalle
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Author: weberfan
Date: 2009-02-23 23:55
I've been pleased with the thin Vandoren patches, though some people use black electrical tape. Seems to work fine, at lower cost.
If you use the search function, you'll find a number of threads on this issue.
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Author: Iceland clarinet
Date: 2009-02-24 00:30
Well I use my mouthpiece patch for about 4-6 months before the clue goes off and I have to replace it. I use the thin clear small one from BG. My teacher use a BG small black one medium thick and he has used the same one for couple of years and he use single lip embouchure. Well why do you have to replace the patch so often ?
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Author: Ryder
Date: 2009-02-24 00:30
I've heard of using bicycle innertubes and double stick tape. You would think I would have tried it by now with all these spare tubes laying around my garage.
____________________
Ryder Naymik
San Antonio, Texas
"We pracice the way we want to perform, that way when we perform it's just like we practiced"
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Author: kdk
Date: 2009-02-24 01:45
I used bicycle innertubes before I started to use Runyon black patches. I use a Runyon for months - cleaning it every so often when I clean the calcium deposits off the outside of my mouthpiece. It's much less trouble than DYI patches and doesn't cost enough to matter.
If you want to go the innertube route, or even for the tape you bought, I found that rubber cement worked better than double-sided tape. If you use tape, you need the cloth-based type, because the plastic carpet tapes just get gooey and let go immediately when they get wet. But I found that rubber cement (*not* contact cement - you want it to come off easily when it's worn out), while it was a bit more of a pain to use than tape, held more securely without damaging the mouthpiece. You brush it onto the surfaces of the patch and the mouthpiece and let it dry (like contact cement). The just lay the patch on the cemented part of the beak. You can be as sloppy a you like, because any excess cement just rolls off. It also rolls off when you want to remove the patch.
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Author: Ed
Date: 2009-02-24 01:57
I have used the Bay thin patches for years and they last forever.
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Author: Steve Epstein
Date: 2009-02-24 03:00
You can cut the rubber patches in half and therefore get double the use out of one. You don't need the entire patch for one mp, in my experience, even for a tenor sax mp.
Steve Epstein
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Author: George Stalle
Date: 2009-02-24 09:23
I'm going to try the rubber cement. Steve, I too have cut patches in half for the same reason, though my goal is to use my plumber's tape and not have to buy any $2.99 patches for a good long while!
Thanks, everyone.
George Stalle
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Author: chorusgirl
Date: 2009-02-24 13:44
OK - dumb Question:
What is the benefit of using a patch? My two boys have been playing clarinet collectively for 8 years, studied with (who I think is) a fine teacher, and I've never seen/heard him recommend these patches, although I have seen them on other clarinetists' mouthpieces. I would appreciate any insight you have to offer. Thanks.
BTW, we are inbetween teachers now, because their teacher moved away, so I don't have anyone to really ask about it. Thanks!
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Author: larryb
Date: 2009-02-24 15:24
chorusgirl:
the patches basically soften the contact between the upper teeth and the top of the mouthpiece where they meet. for some (not all) this is a more comfortable, secure situation.
as mentioned above, patches (over various thicknesses) may also help open the oral cavity, providing some kind of accoustic benefit, it is believed.
from an economic perspective, patches also help prevent tooth marks on the mouthpiece, which limits loss to the resale value of the mouthpiece (or return value if play testing mouthpieces from a retailer)
patches are only useful for single lip players - for double lip, the upper lip serves the same purpose.
many players don't use patches. if your kids are comfortable that way, there's probably no need to switch to patches mouthpieces.
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Author: George Stalle
Date: 2009-02-24 15:52
I believe there are two chief reasons:
1) From beginners to professionals, some like it for the security it gives the teeth on the top of the mouthpiece, less slippage.
2) Others do not like it because they feel it reduces the resonance coming from the mouthpiece to the teeth and into the oral chamber, which also aids in the clarinet sound.
3) One other reason I like is that, with the use of a thicker black rubber pad, I feel this slightly opens the oral cavity and improves the sound resonance.
I'm sure there are other pros and cons.
George Stalle
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Author: D
Date: 2009-02-24 17:34
I have damaged front teeth and it makes the mouthpiece more comfortable and more stable. They still last at least a year though, and I use the thick soft rubber BG ones which are quite easy to cut.
George, are you cleaning your mouthpieces with something unusual to go through them frequently?
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Author: chorusgirl
Date: 2009-02-24 17:51
Would there be any particular benefit from the pad to students who have braces?
BTW, I had no idea that mouthpieces could be re-sold. We have numerous clarinet mouthpieces lying around - I doubt if any of them are so-called "good" ones - but there is, in my school band room (I'm a choral teacher) a box with maybe 15 or so of them!
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Author: George Stalle
Date: 2009-02-24 21:01
D:
No, I only wash mouthpieces in warm, soapy water, then twirl up a piece of wet paper towel to run through them. No harsh chemicals whatsoever. Is that what you mean?
I need a lot of these pads because of the number of students I teach.
The thick rubber (1/16th of an inch) plumber's tape I found should be really good as one side is rubber and the other side to hit the teeth has some type of plastic coating (almost like a plastic fabric weave) that should make that side more impervious to wear from the teeth.
George Stalle
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Author: kdk
Date: 2009-02-24 22:35
Have you tried the plumber's tape (even without reliable adhesive) just to see how it feels under the teeth? Some materials I tried before I gave in to the commercial patches just felt funny.
Also, I found that too thick a patch (especially thicker bicycle tube rubber) sometimes encouraged air leaks around the edges.
If you've already tried the tape and found it satisfactory, then go for it.
Anthony Gigliotti (and I'm sure others of his generation), long before commercial patches became available, used to use a type of rubber work glove that I haven't seen in stores in years (maybe decades) - they were red inside and black outside. Old-timers watching this thread may know what I mean. The rubber was fairly thin and flexible and he would just stick it on with saliva. Once it dried, it held indefinitely - for him. I found I needed the rubber cement, probably because I was biting on the mouthpiece too hard and breaking the bond that had built up between the patch and the mouthpiece.
Karl
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Author: Iceland clarinet
Date: 2009-02-24 22:49
George Stalle why do you have to change your patch so often(more than 1-2 times a year is in my opinion often) ?
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Author: clarinetwoodcarver
Date: 2009-02-24 23:35
I used to go to the local hardware store and buy a pair of extra-large black rubber gloves, and then use double-stick scotch tape, which held very securely. The extra-large glove produces more usable pads. I would apply the tape and then cut the patch to size. A pair of gloves lasted for a very long time. Over the past few years I have been using commercially prepared patches, however.
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Author: Hank Lehrer
Date: 2009-02-24 23:47
Another reason to use a patch is the front teeth may not be even (like mine). For years, I always had a groove in the top of the MP in the same place. When I finally asked my dentist about, he got out a drill with the appropriate stone and ground a little of the tooth off. It took about 2 minutes and he said "Hey, this is sharp" about the tooth before he started.
No problem anymore but I find that I still like the feel of the patch. Agreed about cutting patches in 1/2.
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Author: George Stalle
Date: 2009-02-25 01:00
Iceland clarinet:
No, personally I don't have to change so often. I teach a lot of students privately and at my middle school, so I just need a lot of patches. The kids like the feel and the security!
George Stalle
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Author: Geirskogul
Date: 2009-02-25 05:26
I use the thick black ones for all of my mouthpieces except for my Pomarico...I use the clear one on that to keep the aesthetics. $1.29 each from a local music store.
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Author: D
Date: 2009-02-25 05:35
Makes more sense now George.
How about making these kids buy their own patches? Everywhere I've done any music (lessons, groups, whatever) pupils have always been responsible for their own consumables. This would hold true of violin strings, reeds, cork grease, slide oils, valve oil, cleaning cloths, rosin etc. We were always told this was to help teach children the value of things so they would take better care of them, and to help them get used to going to music shops and getting what they want before they are suddenly out on their own and looking for an expensive instrument in an alien environment. Not sure how true this was as it certainly simplified things for the schools and they could have had an alternative motive........but no one ever thought anything of it.
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Author: George Stalle
Date: 2009-02-25 13:30
I am in a rural district and I have number of issues related to my small budget, rural area, music store 15 miles away, both parents who work, split families, etc.
I try to save my money for families who have a hard time buying reeds for their children (money, time, distance). So, with the patches, it's my way of economizing wherever I can.
George Stalle
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