 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: clarinet60
Date: 2012-12-29 20:26
Just curious if anyone knows what type of tip opening and facing Marcellus used on his mouthpieces (I hear that he used Kaspars...). Thanks.
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Author: Tobin
Date: 2012-12-30 15:40
If you don't receive an answer to this question, you might contact Gregory Smith (Chicago Symphony). In addition to being full of anecdotal Marcellus stories, his expertise as a mouthpiece craftsman increases your chances of getting the correct answer.
James
Gnothi Seauton
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Author: Bill Patry
Date: 2012-12-30 16:18
I second the suggestion to contact Greg Smith, a great expert indeed. I have three of Marcellus' mouthpieces. They are Kaspar Ciceros; two are 13s, one is an 11. All were customized. Also important to consider is that the mouthpieces were inseparable from the particular R13s he played on, in addition to the Morre reeds he had made for himself.
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Author: William
Date: 2012-12-30 16:25
Yes, Greg Smith is probably the best source for this information. FWIW, I've read that Marcellus played Kaspar mouthpieces and searched for a #11 that played like a #13 or a #13 that played like a #11. However, botton line, the lesson for us is that you should pay less attention to the specific tip opening or model and search for what plays best for YOU--not necessarily what played best for Marcellus.
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Author: Bill Patry
Date: 2012-12-30 16:44
I agree William. The mpcs I have of Marcellus are the most idiosyncratic of the many many mpcs I have. For my own playing, I prefer the sound of Goldbecks, Leroys, and others from the 1920s, early 1930s. This isn't to diminish from the brilliance of the Marcellus mpcs, but only to reiterate that they were customized for his own playing.
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Author: Simon Aldrich
Date: 2012-12-31 03:23
When I studied with Marcellus in the 90s, whenever we discussed mouthpieces he pointed out that he had a 13mm overbite (he had it measured) and that the degree of overbite affected one's sound.
Before that I studied with one of the principal players in one of Canada's "big five" orchestras and he mentioned that he would have liked to have had braces to correct his overbite, but he believed that undoing his overbite would have adversely affected his tone.
This is all to say that chasing the dragon, trying to find ingredients that will duplicate Marcellus's sound is a fool's errand (that is an expression, not an insult). Marcellus relayed to me an incident where he stood his clarinet on its bell without mpc cap and his cat brushed up against his clarinet and knocked it it of the table, breaking his mpc. He got a replacement mpc and sounded the same.
His modified R13s, his Morre reeds, his intrinsic personal sound, heck even his 13mm overbite were all more important elements in his tone than tip opening and facing of whatever mpc he was playing that day.
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Author: Ed
Date: 2013-01-02 21:00
Marcellus played Chicago and later Cicero Kaspars. His Mozart recording was done on the Chicago that was broken as Simon mentioned. So much of his sound was certainly due to his concept, even though the equipment was important.
I am sure that he would have still sounded like himself no matter what. At the point when I studied with him, he would alternate between a Gigliott, which he said he liked the feel of, and his Kaspar, which by that time had been modified by Rick Sayre. He liked the sound of the Kaspar, but was not entirely happy with the feel.
For the most part, when he would demonstrate something in my lessons, he still sounded like himself. In his masterclasses I heard him pick up a student's instrument to check the set up. He still had his tone, even though after playing it, he commented to the student that it was very resistant and asked the student how on earth he manage to play it!
Post Edited (2013-01-02 22:11)
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Author: kdk
Date: 2013-01-02 21:45
Ed wrote:
> At the point when I studied with him, he would
> alternate between a Gigliott, which he said he liked the feel
> of, and his Kaspar, which by that time had been modified by
> Rick Sayre.
That's not anything I'd have expected! When was this?
Karl
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Author: Dileep Gangolli
Date: 2013-01-03 21:52
It is true about the Gigliotti mouthpiece. When I was a grad student at NU during the early 90's, Mr Marcellus was playing on a P facing.
I had studied with Mr Gigliotti in the late 70s and when I told him that Mr Marcellus was playing on a P facing, Gigliotti was astounded to say the least.
I think it was due to several reasons but primarily because Marcellus did not play much except to demonstrate in lessons. The P facing was so close that it could be played quite comfortably with little embouchure maintenance and a softer reed.
I can assure you that it would not have been the set up Marcellus would have played during his prime playing years and it would not have had the response for articulation that Marcellus required from his set up.
But that he played on the P facing and recommended it for several of his students in his final years at NU (early 90s) is an accurate statement.
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