 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: buckeye75
Date: 2011-10-28 14:46
I am trying several of the better mouthpieces on the market with different facings. Is there an advantage to going with a more open facing and a lighter reed as compared to using a closed facing with a stronger reed? I am looking for the best combination. I am presently trying the Forbes Cicero and Van Doren Masters mouthpieces. Would anyone suggest Lomax? I have an assortment of various strengths of Van Doren 54 and V 12 as well as Rigotti Gold reeds. I am playing a 1967 R-13 which I will never part with.
Thanks
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Author: kdk
Date: 2011-10-28 16:09
buckeye75 wrote:
> I am trying several of the better mouthpieces on the market
> with different facings. Is there an advantage to going with a
> more open facing and a lighter reed as compared to using a
> closed facing with a stronger reed? I am looking for the best
> combination.
There is no "best combination." There's only the one (or range of combinations) that most easily produces the result you want. You just have to try as many combinations as you can. It might be a little more efficient if you first decide what about your current setup you want to improve.
My personal advice, if you're simply engaging in a wanderlust for change, is to start fairly close to what you're already used to. If you find something that seems better, it might be worth stopping there at least for awhile to acclimate to the new setup. If then there's still something you want to change, repeat the process. Of course, another way would be to go to the opposite end of the resistance spectrum and see if you find any personal advantage there.
You don't say what mouthpiece you've been using, only that you're trying the Fobes Cicero and the VD Masters. Clark Fobes, by the way, is a very knowledgeable maker and is generally willing to work with you if one of his mouthpieces is almost but not quite what you want.
Karl
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Author: buckeye75
Date: 2011-10-28 17:09
Thanks for the reply. I am presently using a Portnoy BP 02. It has been refaced and modified by a local master repairman. I tried a new Portnoy recently and it was horrible. I am looking for a somewhat darker tone. In addition I am looking for better intonation above high C. I find that the Portnoy is not "reed friendly". It is difficult to find any reed that responds well in all registers. I find that with the Cicero, more reeds play well.
Jim
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Author: kdk
Date: 2011-10-28 18:03
Jim, I don't know what the new Portnoys are like, so I don't know if the one you recently tried was typical or not. And unless you know what facing the repairman put on your old one, it'll be hard for anyone at a distance to know whether your altissimo intonation is related to the facing or the internal dimensions of the mouthpiece (or something else in the overall system). A facing can certainly affect "reed-friendliness." From what I knew (or remember) about Portnoy mouthpieces, the Fobes Cicero should be in the same general class of facings, but with Clark's hand finishing and 50-60 years' accumulated knowledge about mouthpiece acoustics since the original Portnoys were designed, it's a good choice among several. I haven't tried any of the VD Masters and don't know much of anything about them.
My personal suggestion - others may recommend a different approach - is to decide between the Fobes and the Masters which one makes a stronger first impression. If you still have them through some kind of approval policy, keep one and return the other. Then do some trial-and-error to find your optimal reed brand/model/strength and see how it works after some time of getting used to it. If neither has made a good impression from the beginning, send them both back and try a couple of different ones. I think a negative first reaction to a mouthpiece is pretty reliable. It's mostly when your first impression is positive that you're unsure how much better it can get as you work with it.
No matter what you end up with, in the end you'll never know if there's something you haven't tried that you'd like better - that's what drives equipment junkies to keep going. Find something comfortable and then enjoy it.
Karl
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Author: buckeye75
Date: 2011-10-28 19:00
Thanks Karl
I actually just posted another topic regarding the various Fobes mouthpieces. I presently am trying the Cicero series, which I like, but I know that the San Francisco series has been popular. I will probably try a couple of these models. The San Francisco comes in 6 facings. I'm not sure which to try first.
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2011-10-28 20:02
To me your basic question is: what is the difference between an open mouthpiece and a softer reed vs. a more closed mouthpiece with a harder reed.
To that question I would say that more classical players tend toward the latter. You ideally want control over pitch and timbre via your embouchure, however, the wider the opening the more unwieldy this becomes. For those seeking the utlimate in tonal effects, the open mouthpiece offers up a whole gammit of possibilities to include all the dirty tones one looks for in many jazz forms.
..................Paul Aviles
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