The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2011-10-05 20:02
In the "Reed Suggestions" thread KDK mentioned problems with Legere and Forestone reeds at pp. I play succesfully (at my level, which is not high) with Legere reeds, and initially found the same problem. At the time I was playing on a B45 and a 5RV. I had an old B44 in my junkbox and find that it has pretty well fixed the problem with pp. The only problem I have now is where on earth am I ever going to find another one if I break it?
Tony F.
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Author: William
Date: 2011-10-05 20:58
LOL--just be careful. I've been playing the same Chicago Kaspar mouthpiece for over 53 yrs and given a lot of TLC, its held up pretty well. And on that mouthpiece I am having great success with the Forestone reed--not so good with Legere. I much prefer the sound of the Forestone particularly in the upper registers where I find that Legere's become "thuddy" in response and dull in sound. There is a sudden "pitch shift" when playing ppp in the low register, but that is easily correted with your embouchure, same as one would have to do for any note that suddenly goes "sharp".
Another thought, if you mouthpiece is THAT GOOD and you are really worried about breaking it, have the facing copied by one of our BB's mouthpiece gurus. Years ago, I had Charlie Bay copy my Chicago Kaspar facing onto a Chedeville blank and I always carry it as my backup--it plays just like my Kaspar. Fortuantly, I've never had to resort ot it.
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Author: MarlboroughMan
Date: 2011-10-05 23:08
I've never had a problem playing ppp on a Legere--they've always responded better than cane for me, whether on my German set-up or the French style mouthpieces I played before having my Wurlitzers refurbished (Hawkins, Bay, Vandoren, Selmer, etc).
Players in both the Berlin and Vienna Phils play Legeres (among many others), so there really is no general problem--just some players who aren't as comfortable on them.
I second William's mouthpiece advice. If the old B44 is your perfect mp, have another refaced to match it. It's a good policy anyhow, especially if you're using Legere--you can set up both your A and Bb and not have to worry about fast switches in orchestral repertoire.
I have three sets of mps that I'd gladly perform on: a pair of Zinner "George Pieterson" models, which are my favorites; a matched pair of WZ2 Wurlitzers; and a pair of Viotto N1s. Life it too short to worry about what might happen if you dropped your mouthpiece.
Eric
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The Jazz Clarinet
http://thejazzclarinet.blogspot.com/
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