 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: billryan
Date: 2004-03-17 20:41
Hey, Yes I've done the search! I just can't seem to find specific info. about how "open" or "closed", Mr. Smiths Kaspars (two different ones) are! Can one of the real smart owners of a Smith mouthpiece (Kaspar) tell me some numbers? Can you compare them with current (non custom) production models as to free blowing and such? There are a few kids at school that have them and at least two Profs...they don't have a clue, except they won't let me near them! I must admit that these fellow students are really good and Mr. Smith has a great reputation in these parts. Yes, I know he'll send them to us on approval...but please someone (I beg ya) give me a preview! Thank you,
Bill
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Author: William
Date: 2004-03-18 14:30
And--regarding tip openings and other specific measurements--who cares?
The most important factor in choosing a mouthpiece is--and always will be--how well does it play for you. If you can find one that responds cleanly in all registers, one that plays with a focused sound soft as well as loud, is in tune and is relatively reed "friendly", buy it and enjoy. And stop wondering what the tip opening is, how long the lay is, how deep the baffle might be and who else in the world plays on one like it. If it plays good, it is good.
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2004-03-18 14:49
I asked Greg Smith what the tip openings are. He replied to me that there are four. 1*, 1, 1+, 1++. Going from closed to open. And they are all playable with a 3.5 V12. So the tip openings don't vary by that much. However when I tested them out, I could definitely tell the more open ones by the feel. I settled on a 1* (being a maniac for closed mouthpieces for some reason). The 1 and 1* both played very well and felt VERY comfortable to me, but I liked the extra resistence I got with the 1* that I tried.
I bet you'll love them and will find one them OUTSTANDING.
And once again, I doubt he has strict "measurements" for you. There is more than likely a variance even within one model and I seem to remember him telling me that he doesn't take measurements, but simply codes them by how open or closed they feel.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: Gregory Smith ★2017
Date: 2004-03-18 19:21
My Kaspar style has a tip opening of the original Kaspar "11" (Chicago or Cicero) at approx. 1.11mm's. The "11" was Frank Kaspar's most successful and popular symphonic facing. Mine are meant to replicate my own personal, original Kaspars (a Chicago and a Cicero) with an "11" stamped on the L. side of the table. These two are the best examples that I have played and use them as comparators when I make each mthpc. The interior dimensions are slightly different between the Chicago and the Cicero models but the facing remains essentially the same (as in my own originals).
The Chedeville style facings have a tip opening hovering around 1mm but the concavity in the table makes it feel a little above that. I like to think that I make one, "medium" Chedeville style mouthpiece but vary the 4 facings ever so slightly so that they are made to fit slightly different embouchures or jaw occulsions. It's a variation done more out of concern for the player's comfort than anything else. The inherent sound of each mthpc varies little if at all despite the slightest change in the tip opening of the 4 models.
All of my mthpcs, amongst the plethora of mthpcs available out there today, feel "medium" in every respect. The fact that they work best with the middle of the road reed strengths (3.5 - 4) demonstrates something of that.
Gregory Smith
PS. I do take scupulous measurements and rarely if ever vary from them since they are the most successful for me and clients.
Post Edited (2004-03-18 19:24)
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Author: billryan
Date: 2004-03-19 19:18
Hey, Amazing how you can predict some of the answers on this board. Some will always (on every equipment topic) say, it really does not matter, what's important is..... Well, to me everything that I can learn is important. Thank you Alexi, you get right to the point. Mr. Smith, since my parents have to support my "habit", my father will contact you in a few months when I'm home for vacation. I can say your name is known at the school and is respected for a host of reasons. Instructors are also members/former members of music organizations, so they know who you are! My friends (who still refuse to let me near your mouthpiece), are playing better then ever, because of you. I can't wait!
Bill
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Author: D Dow
Date: 2004-03-21 03:10
One of my student sounds fantastic with his Smith Chedeville facing(I believe the 1++)...it is quite nice and when I tried it for him I really felt it had a ring which replicated the older Ched's..
.in fact the Smith mouthpiece worked so well he won an Audition with a youth orchestra on it...
Again, sometimes it's the internal parameters of a mouthpiece that give the player the flexibility and feel which play most comfortably with...
My experience with the Smith's I have run into as a teacher is
my students love them and they sound and tune beautifully!
David Dow
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Author: mingusg
Date: 2004-03-22 14:33
I am new to the clarinet board. I was taking lessons from a local teacher in Chicago and she said "Greg Smith mouthpieces are the best on the planet". I was also have some problems with my Vandoren B45dot, finding reeds, hitting certain notes etc. and so I called Greg and he sent 3 with 3 matched Chadash barrels. My teacher and I picked one out and I will tell you she was right.
Since then I have acquired some Kaspars but I still play the Greg Smith and will probably forever. It has a marvelous rich sound, has just the right baoance of resistance and freeness and it is very reed friendly.
I should also mention that Greg is a very nice guy and I have chatted with him on the phone about mouthpieces several times. His wife is also a fine clarinetist.
You want a mouthpiece, buy a Greg Smith, then you can forget about it forever.
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