 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: moose6589
Date: 2004-04-08 10:30
Recently, I have been playing on a refaced Pomarico diamond, and it really is a pretty good mouthpiece. The tone is wonderful, and tonguing is excellent. However, my teacher recently tried my setup, and she says that the mouthpiece is simply too resistant for me. It makes me unable to play for longer than an hour, and she also says that it makes my tone duller than what it should be.
So, she wants me to get a new mouthpiece, and she suggests trying the Vandoren M30 or M13. The question is, should I really switch mouthpieces, now that I've finally gotten used to it and have finally found suitable reeds for it? I didn't really like any of the M13's that I tried, and I have yet to try the M30. So, should I try to convince her that my current mouthpiece is adequate? Or should I just go get a new mouthpiece and try to get accustomed to it again? Thanks for reading.
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Author: icecoke12
Date: 2004-04-08 10:44
Hmm.. how about getting a new barrel? A barrel with less resistance..... maybe it will make up for the overall resistence in your setup...
Try a few and see what happens?
Of cos the only other way is to change mouthpiece/reed or convince your teacher you can play for more than one hour...heh.
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Author: Ed
Date: 2004-04-08 11:54
I have always felt that when I study with someone, I put myself into that person's hands and trust his/her judgement. Trust your teacher. You can always switch back at some point.
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2004-04-08 13:36
Ed wrote:
> I have always felt that when I study with someone, I put myself
> into that person's hands and trust his/her judgement. Trust
> your teacher. You can always switch back at some point.
You have to be careful though. Sometimes teachers can be very brand fixated. Teachers will strongly STRONGLY urge you to buy lets say a Buffet clarinet, or vandoren reeds, or a certain mouthpeice. And that's what they will have ALL their students playing on. I personally think that the setup should really be the student's choice with advice and guidance from the teacher. Then again, like ICECOKE said, sometimes you just need to make your teacher happy. You can always switch back or use that particular mouthpiece JUST for practice sessions with your teacher if you really don't like it.
In any event, it can't hurt to try an M13 or M30. Throw in an M15 too (my personal favorite of vandorens!) Maybe you WILL end up liking it better than your current mouthpiece. If not, try to explain to your teacher that you did give them a fair shot, but just feel that your current mouthpiece is better and would like to build up the wind and stamina to play longer than an hour.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2004-04-08 13:59
Having been very pleased with 2 older Pomaricos [about #3's I believe] for my Selmer bass cl, using a metal M Lurie lig [in preference to a regular or reversed fabric lig], I obtained a similar Pom for my alto cl, also VG, and have had 2 older O'Brien glasses refaced to a 5RVL and a newer Pom med. jazz facing. They seem to also be very fine, just haven't had much sop playing [yet] to evaluate. lots of glass, and am careful!! Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: Ed
Date: 2004-04-08 14:14
My point is that your teacher may know something you don't. Yes, some teachers are caught up with a particular brand or type of equipment, OR it could be that he/she feels the equipment is holding you back in some way. You may end up handicapping yourself. Sometimes it takes a while to get used to a new piece of equipment, get the feel, match reeds, etc. You might end up liking the new mouthpiece even better in the long run. If you don't trust your teachers judgement, then maybe you should find a teacher that you do trust.
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2004-04-08 15:02
Ed wrote:
> Sometimes it takes a while to get used
> to a new piece of equipment, get the feel, match reeds, etc.
> You might end up liking the new mouthpiece even better in the
> long run. If you don't trust your teachers judgement, then
> maybe you should find a teacher that you do trust.
Good point. When I took lessons a year and a half ago at my college, my teacher recommended I switch from my Vandy B45 to a Gigliotti P mouthpiece. Of course, I think he may be brand fixated (on gigliotti products since he was a student of gigliotti, has all HIS students playing on gigliottis, and he himself uses a gigliotti brand mouthpiece, ligature, reeds, barrels, and silk swab), however it still WAS a beneficial change. And it took about a week for me to stop squeaking and start getting sounds out of it. Then I had it refaced by Dave Spiegelthal, and it played beautifully. Still in my opinion a TOP NOTCH mouthpiece. Now I have a Greg Smith, and that's even MORE amazing.
But I think the message I was trying to get across was don't form an opinion over testing it for five minutes. If the place you order from allows you a two week trial, try it a little bit every day for two weeks. Give it a thorough chance.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: moose6589
Date: 2004-04-09 00:47
Thanks for all the good advice! However, the music store that I go to does not let you buy it and return it later if you don't like. All mouthpiece purchases are final, terrible as that seems. I would consider buying it if I could slowly test it at home, but since I can't, I'm really not so sure that I should buy from that store.
However, I think my teacher has a mouthpiece that she's willing to let me try, and it's a Vandoren "M" model, though I forget which one. I'll be sure to give that mouthpiece a fair chance, but what if that doesn't work out? Should I try ordering custom mouthpieces online from those that allow for 2-week trials or longer? Or perhaps I should just buy something from the store and get it refaced?
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2004-04-09 01:50
Test it from a store like WWBW or IMS or another mail order. Often you can get four mouthpieces on trial. With wwbw, if you use a credit card, you can only pay for the most expensive and get three others to try. Then you have I believe two weeks to test them out. And if you like one of the vandorens, then you know to order four of THAT type of vandoren and pick the best out of that batch.
Or you can try the custom makers. A little extra money, but it'll be money well-spent if you find a real gem in there.
In my eyes, if you're buying a mouthpiece with the INTENTION of having it refaced, perhaps it wasn't the best purchase to begin with. The mouthpiece you get should play VERY WELL for you before buying it. Then play it for a while, and if there are still slight dificulties, talk to a refacer to see if they know what the problem might be and if they can fix it.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: icecoke12
Date: 2004-04-09 06:31
hi moose...
who refaced ur pomarico?
just a thought... if you get a vandoren and send it back to be refaced, will you get back something that plays similarly to the pomarico?
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Author: hans
Date: 2004-04-09 13:24
Richard,
In your position, at the risk of alienating my teacher, I would try to get a second opinion from another teacher or expert before spending money on a mouthpiece that might spend its entire life unused in a drawer.
Regards,
Hans
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Author: moose6589
Date: 2004-04-09 14:21
Good advice from everyone! I think I'll trust my teacher on this issue since I can see some truth in my mouthpiece being too resistant. So, my first decision is that I am going to order a few mouthpieces from Walter Grabner to try after reading some great stuff about him in the archives. Seems like a pretty low-risk choice because I can get a full refund if I don't like them.
Now, I've decided to get the cheaper "Pro Quality" version that costs $110, but there are two models, the CXZ_AW and the CXZ_SW1. The website says that the CXZ_AW is recommended for Buffet instruments, and I have an R-13, so should I just get that, or are there other factors to consider?
As for the Vandorens, I'll try the one my teacher has, but I'm not too sure about mail order because I live in Taiwan, and it's a hassle to ship internationally. Anyways, thanks for the replies!
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Author: Ed
Date: 2004-04-09 14:30
The best bet is to contact Walter. He is very knowledgeable and friendly. Let him know your wants and concerns and I am sure he can steer you in the right direction.
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Author: Synonymous Botch
Date: 2004-04-09 21:55
If you can spare the MPC for awhile, send it to WG when placing your order.
A few measurements in his shop may shorten time to getting something playable on your stick.
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Author: moose6589
Date: 2004-04-10 03:54
I'm not sure I could spare my mouthpiece for awhile because I really don't have anything else that I'm used to/I like. My current mouthpiece isn't bad at all, just too resistant, and time is not a major concern right now. I don't mind waiting a bit longer.
I have e-mailed Walter about selecting a model to buy, so I'll just wait for his reply.
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