 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: larryb
Date: 2004-03-01 18:01
I've heard that Selmer mouthpieces "play sharp."
Are there any mouthpieces that "play flat?"
How is the intonation of a mouthpiece determined?
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2004-03-01 19:12
My refaced crystal Pomarico Bb mouthpiece seems to play a bit 'flatter' than my hard rubber (and plastic) mouthpieces, for what it's worth. The same phenomenon exists on my bass clarinet when I use a Pom crystal (which is almost all the time).
To throw further confusion into the mouthpiece area, there's been an ongoing discussion on the BB about the importance (or lack thereof) of the match between mouthpiece bore and barrel bore. Well, I've been playing recently on a medium-large (.593") bore Boosey & Hawkes clarinet with a variety of 'standard' bore (approx. .584") mouthpieces, with no discernible response or intonation problems (but then again, at my level of Bb clarinet expertise anything within a half-step is close enough....) ---- nevertheless, to test the theory a bit, I've procured an actual B&H mouthpiece with bore dimension same as the clarinet, refaced the mouthpiece with my typical facing, and.....the clarinet seems to play just like it does with the other, non-matching mouthpieces. Just one empirical, non-scientifically-controlled data point for your dining and dancing pleasure.
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Author: D Dow
Date: 2004-03-02 13:50
I have a number of B40s and B4013s which have a wide variance in feel yeat work best with my Selmer Clarinets.
as to mouthpieces that play low the Gennussa mouthpieces and Pyne pieces are definitely on the low side...for me this is taken a bit too far with these models...be sure to match the mouthpiece to the clarinet.
David Dow
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Author: BobD
Date: 2004-03-02 14:14
David, your comments are so refreshing at a time when so many believe that all things can be explained and quantified.
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Author: Synonymous Botch
Date: 2004-03-02 14:46
Ralph Morgan has been at the woodwind biz for more years than most of us have played an instrument.
He is constantly asserting that the modern mouthpiece volume is too small.
It goes to reason that larger volumes will lower pitch, and smaller volumes will raise pitch; within the mouthpiece itself.
*****
You may, of course, compensate with any number of adjustments - but the long and short of it is your comfort.
If the mouthpiece tunes perfectly, with superb intonation, and you can only manage ten minutes of play time... what good is it to your purpose?
People with perfect pitch are tremendously annoying to us schlubs...
To paraphrase Bonade,
"Go out into a deep lake with your selection of mouthpieces, and play them all... when you find the one that plays most readily for you, throw the others overboard."
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Author: D Dow
Date: 2004-03-02 15:06
On the positive side, the variance in intonation in mouthpieces is for me a personal blessing. I play with a variety of orchestras some tuning as high as 442 and as low as 439!
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The danger of only having one piece to fall back on is a bit of a scary prospect when I consider how much playing I do in the run of a year with players on all sides of the tuning spectrum.
I do not suffer from mouthpiece madness which is a dehabilitating disease among pros and students alike. Generally speaking I have only two mouthpieces that I use for all playing...Hite D's and Vandy B40s which are quite different in pitch and feel....I personally like the choice for a variety of playing situations. For students I am dead set against closed mouthpieces...Gigliotti and Pyne pieces are pretty stuffy and make students work too hard. For professionals however, these may be the piece of choice!! But, if I knew someone who was gonna jump in a lake...I would say send in the Gigliotti and Pynes first and save yourself alot of greif!!
There are a number of people who just go out and buy these and then go to someone to get them refaced when you can spend far less on a Babbitt blank and have someone like David Spiegethal do better work than some of the duds I have tried lately for students....for that matter many 5RV Lyres are superior in every way over the expensive junk that I have tried...
Its is simple...what works best for one may not work for everyone./
David Dow
Post Edited (2004-03-02 15:08)
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Author: GBK
Date: 2004-03-02 15:54
The actual Bonade quote:
"Go out in a rowboat with a box of mouthpieces, put a blindfold on and pick one out, throw the rest of them overboard, and go home and practice." ...GBK
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Author: larryb
Date: 2004-03-02 16:09
My interest in a "flatter" mouthpiece stems from having a basset horn that plays generally somewhat sharp in the middle of its range (lows and highs are good). The sharpness can be corrected by pulling out the neck, mouthpiece and joints, but I would prefer to limit all that if possible - perhaps a flatter playing mouthpiece would help (the Vandoren 5RV that I use plays otherwise beautifully).
Another alternative would be to find a longer neck, or have one made. I understand that LeBlanc's adjustable neck costs about $600, and that's a very last resort (I'd rather just pull everything out).
The good news is that the horn plays in tune with itself.
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Author: Liquorice
Date: 2004-03-02 17:40
Buying a "flatter" mouthpiece won't make all the notes on the horn equally lower. In my experience the "shorter" notes are more affected by the mouthpiece that the "longer" notes. Playing with a longer barrel has a similar effect to playing with a flatter mouthpiece
So Larry, if your horn plays in tune with itself at a certain pitch, it doesn't mean that if you buy a flatter mouthpiece it will still play in tune!
Personally I prefer a rounder mouthpiece to a flatter one...
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Author: D Dow
Date: 2004-03-03 03:41
An excellent test for a clarinet mouthpiece is getting the octaves to tune..not the 12ths...
David Dow
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