 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Mike Milo
Date: 2001-10-02 15:24
I know what you're thinking... "Vandoren mouthpieces?? UGH!"
I'd like to dispell a common opinion that Vandoren mouthpieces are awful, play poorly, and are brittle. Up until two days ago, I might have agreed with you... HOWEVER! I tested several Vandoren mouthpieces from the WW and BW catalog, and as my set of 3 testers I ordered a 5RVLyre, 5RVLyre13 (profile 88, specially made for the Buffet R-13 clarinet), and a standard 11.1 opening. I tried both the 5RVs, which I've heard advertised and hyped because of their playablilty. The 5RVLyre sounded a little brassy to me, and had NO stacatto response. The Lyre13 was even WORSE on it's "preferred instrument", my R-13. It sounded AWFUL - tiny, honky, and SO non-responsive, like someone was blowing their nose through my horn! After almost giving up hope, I unpacked and tried the 11.1, fearing the worst. I sat down to play it with a stuffed-up nose that would have blocked up a river, and of course I expected it to sound even MORE nasal-like than it might have... but I was VERY wrong. The 11.1 opened up the tone and secured each and every pitch I went for. I was playing some jazz / blues improv to test it out, and was delighted to find that it could easily go into the upper-altissimo register and NAIL the tones! On the first night, I hit a quad-octave b-natural without trying! Blown away, I tried the next night and hit the C above THAT! This mouthpiece is a DREAM COME TRUE for me! A round tone, AWESOME power, and ability to play beautifully both soft and loud makes this, in my opinion, a worthwhile expense of $50. I HIGHLY recommend the Vandoren "11.1" for anyone looking for a less-expensive but high-quality mouthpiece. Don't take my word for it... the WW and BW can ship you three to try - in the end, you only pay shipping. Remember, ALWAYS try before you buy!
God bless,
- Mike Milo <'//><
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Author: Dee
Date: 2001-10-02 16:13
Actually Vandoren mouthpieces are frequently recommended on this board. They are one of the better mass produced ones. Sometimes a person needs to play several different ones of the same model to find one he/she likes but so what. To do better, one generally needs to go to custom made mouthpieces.
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Author: Fred
Date: 2001-10-02 17:24
I'm not familiar with a "standard 11.1 opening" mouthpiece - the others I'm familiar with. Can you explain what that was? Model? Material?
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Author: Peter
Date: 2001-10-02 20:28
Not a thing wrong with Vandoren mouthpieces.
I don't play professionally, but I still need a decent mouthpiece and Vandoren has always had one to suit avery clarinet I have owned (and I still own every one I have bought.)
My son is in his second year of clarinet and, while he hasn't tried some of the better custom mps out there, he has tried just about everyone else's and also prefers Vandoren, except for one of the Woodwinds Company (Leblanc) mps which he likes for one particular Leblanc clarinet we have.
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Author: Peter
Date: 2001-10-02 20:42
Sorry, I forgot:
Fred,
The 11.1 has a tip opening of 1.11mm and a medium facing length.
Vandoren recommends using #3 to #4 traditional reeds or #3.5 to #4.5 V-12 reeds with it.
It is made of black ebonite and comes in the following beak styles:
Traditional; Profile 88; 13 Series Profile 88; and 2-Tones Profile 88.
The Vandoren catalog comments are as follows:
"Produces a compact sound similar to German-style mouthpieces. Designed to use stronger reeds."
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Author: David Kinder
Date: 2001-10-03 03:21
I've been playing on the same Vandoren M13 mouthpiece for about 5 years with no complaints. Now, I haven't tried any other mouthpiece's recently, but I'm really fond of my M13.
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Author: Ed
Date: 2001-10-03 15:55
"On the first night, I hit a quad-octave b-natural without trying! Blown away, I tried the next night and hit the C above THAT!"
Yeah, sometimes I squeak too ;-)
Actually, sometimes you can find some good Vandorens, like anything else. They can be inconsistent, but I have some colleagues that play them and love them. In fact, one guy I know prefers them to custom mouthpieces and likes the fact that if he drops it he can walk in to some podunk music store and find another!
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Author: Benny G.
Date: 2001-10-04 20:19
Hey hey hey,
I've got a Vandoren mouthpiece (B45) and it's the best mouthpiece I've ever played on.
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Author: mw
Date: 2001-10-04 23:12
Benny... how could you forget ? .... it's SING, SING, SING !
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Author: David dow Sympony NB
Date: 2002-04-26 16:25
Vandoren mouthpieces are the finest in the world and one must always try many before choosing a model to buy...you have to test drive a car so why not a mouthpiece?
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