 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: OpusII
Date: 2004-06-28 07:05
Saturday we had a Master class with the Belgian clarinetist Eddy Vanoosthuyse. It was very interesting and we got al some personal attention from him, because we where only with 6 persons.
He told me that I was using to much mouthpiece, and advised me to lay down my Vandoren 5RV and pick up a Vandoren B40 or B45 mouthpiece. Of course I’m going to try this to improve my playing, but my question to you…
How can you tell that you use the correct amount of mouthpiece? Personally I really couldn’t here the difference, but a friend of my told me that my sound was improved when I picked up the B40 and used less of mouthpiece.
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Author: RAMman
Date: 2004-06-28 11:00
In my experience...
Not enough mouthpiece (the most common) usually results in a thin sound, lacking body and true resonance, because you end up pinching the reed shut.
Too much mouthpiece would result in an uncontrollable sound, probably with much overblowing (overtones).
I use one method with my students to find a good position in the mouth. If you look sideways at your mouthpiece, look at the tip opening and move down to the point where the reed meets to the mouthpiece. Place your thumb on this point, and then place your thumb on your lower lip. If you have a fundamentally sound embouchure, I find this gives a good amount of mouthpiece, but obviously it's not an exact science.
Hope that makes sense!
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Author: glin
Date: 2004-06-28 12:09
Too little mouthpiece will close off the reed and result in a smallish sound with little resonance.
Too much mouthpiece will give a harsher sound that is harder to control and prone to squawks and a heavier tongue. It also encourages the tongue to drop as you take in more of the mpc, producing a quality of sound that is flat in pitch.
See Daniel Bonade's the Clarinetist's Compendium or Keith Stein's The Art of Clarinet Playing for illustraions and more details.
FWIW, I'm told I could use less mpc from my teacher, as well. It is hard to get adjusted, but the end results are supposed to help you become a better player, so persevere!
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Author: OpusII
Date: 2004-06-28 12:23
glin,
Quote:
FWIW, I'm told I could use less mpc from my teacher, as well. It is hard to get adjusted, but the end results are supposed to help you become a better player, so persevere!
I'm glad that to hear that glin! I've already started to adjust.... It doesn't seem impossible ![[toast]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smiley15.gif) , but it will take a long time to get comfortable with it....
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Author: Kevin
Date: 2004-06-28 16:07
The amount of mouthpiece needed also varies depending on reed strength. Harder reeds play better with more mp and vice versa with softer reeds.
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Author: Don Poulsen
Date: 2004-06-29 15:10
I always felt it best to use the entire mouthpiece. I never got quite as good a sound when I cut any of it off.
![[wink]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie3.gif)
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Author: Synonymous Botch
Date: 2004-06-29 18:46
Vandoren lists the 5RV as a fairly short facing... I wonder if he's trying to get you on a longer facing to allow more of the reed to move?
Making the transition from a 5RV to the B45 will be like trying to put out a forest fire with a thimble - it's a very much less resistant rig...
If you have someone that can lengthen the curve on your 5RV, perhaps that's a smaller, incremental step to take first?
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Author: John Scorgie
Date: 2004-06-29 19:37
A good compromise between the tip openings and lay lengths of the 5RV and the B45 would be the popular 5RVLyre.
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Author: OpusII
Date: 2004-06-29 19:46
Synonymous Botch,
He did mention it because I had to much overtones.
Actually before the 5RV I already played the B45 and it isn't a very big step to play it again.... but still I've to decrease the use of mouthpiece, that's hard to change.. :(
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2004-06-30 00:33
A pretty standard criterion is that your teeth should be exactly below the point where the reed separates from the lay. Begin with half the red part of your lower lip over your lower teeth, so that the midline of the lip is at the separation point.
Adjustments from there may make things easier, but in general, if you take more than that amount of mouthpiece, the tone gets hollow and lacking in resonance. If you take less, the tone becomes puny and monochromatic.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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