 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Lyle
Date: 2001-11-09 12:35
Howdy
I live in Arkansas. Could anyone tell me where I can find literature telling me the different styles, types, and brands of clarinet, and how each play differently. Such as, R12, R13, etc. Also, I have been playing clarinet for several years, on my own, by myself, and have neglegted the finer technical points. I want to get a smoother, more mellow tone on my clarinet. Is the key to that in the reed, the barrel, the mouthpiece, the embouchre, or all of the above? I play a normandy. Vandoren #2 reed. Mouthpiece no brand marking, only B45.
Thanks
Lyle
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Author: Bill
Date: 2001-11-09 14:43
Lyle,
It's not a instantaneous process---figuring out all of what's out there. Sneezy is the best place to start (well---I don't have a teacher and I never attended music school). Your stated desire to acquire a "smoother, more mellow tone" is probably yout ticket to achieving it, in my opinion. The equipment is secondary. Good luck! --Bill.
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Author: ron b
Date: 2001-11-09 16:13
Well, Lyle, I agree with Bill one hundred percent.
Just for the record though, I'd like to state that there needs to be three ingredients for making a clarinet sound nice:
1. A motivated player
2. A (good combination) mouthpiece/reed
3. A horn in good playing condition
We know number one is fine. You might or you might not need to tinker with two and three but, from here, they look okay to me.
(Oh, yes, I forgot about number 3a (to echo-paraphrase Bill)... ''' keep on tootin ''' 
- ron b -
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Author: Jason M
Date: 2001-11-09 17:08
That mouthpiece you have is a Vandoren, I am pretty sure.
I find the combination of embouchure, and breathing creates different tonal qualities, for me anyway, which is handy as you can change between something mellow and move to something a bit brighter, it is pretty subtle though.
Perhaps try a 2.5 or 3 reed, I think they are reccommended for that mouth piece, but it is pretty personal isn't it?
J
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Author: David Spiegelthal
Date: 2001-11-09 20:41
Get a really good mouthpiece first, preferably with help from a professional clarinetist or teacher, then you'll find the sound is 90%+ determined, regardless of what brand clarinet you play. As a (probably irrelevant) example, my two current favorite personal clarinets are very different in bore design --- a Boosey & Hawkes large-bore English clarinet, and a Couesnon small-bore French clarinet --- and intuition and 'common sense' would suggest that I would sound vastly different on these two instruments. But my friends and family that have listened to me play these back-to-back could hardly tell a difference. So if you're comfortable on your current clarinet and it's in good mechanical shape, stick with it a while and work on the two more important factors: 1) your own playing --- the most important! and 2) a good mouthpiece. I should mention reeds also: they have a relatively small effect on the sound compared to the player and the mouthpiece --- once you get a mouthpiece you like, try many different brands and strengths of reeds and you'll find what feels the best for your playing style and that particular mouthpiece. The point of all this is, don't be obsessed with the choice of instrument ---- leave this particular obsession for the pros and more advanced players, you've got more important things to worry about!
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Author: Joseph O'Kelly
Date: 2001-11-10 17:13
The B-45 is usually a Vandorean mouthpiece but I have noticed a cheap plastic mouthpiece on the market with the B45 designation, just to let you know.
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