 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: edk312001
Date: 2004-12-20 03:25
emm im a high school student n im v.confused lately..i find out that my tone start from mid C is tend to be bright( 3rd space C ), cn gv me suggestions on how to make the tone darker?
secondly, i want to ask wether a crystal mouthpiece tend to make the tone brighter or better? thanx
edk312001@yahoo.com
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Jimmy Zhong
Date: 2004-12-20 04:11
Crystal mouthpieces sound no different than hard rubber mouthpieces, from what I've heard. The only differences are breakability and facing wear, I believe.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: clarnibass
Date: 2004-12-20 04:47
Actually, I think (from my own experience) crystal mouthpieces do have a slightly different sound. It's not better or worse than other materials of course. I personally like crystal, but always felt they were too resistant for me. It's also more difficult to find a good crystal mouhtpiece than a good rubber mouthpiece.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Robert Moody
Date: 2004-12-20 08:04
EDK,
I would offer advice about an exercise for softening the brightness in the clarion and altissimo registers but feel me be pulled into a long lecture and debate about voicing. Since it is 4:00 AM and I cannot sleep, but need to, I will avoid that topic for this post.
On the topic of mouthpieces, I personally prefer crystal mouthpieces for their consistency. And as for "breakability", I have never broken a crystal mouthpiece and have, through similar incidents, broken three expensive hard-rubber mouthpieces over the last 25 years. The latest was a Bay mouthpiece that I had set on my stand. I'm so used to the black Manhasset stands that when I took my music off the stand, I had no thought that the mouthpiece would fall through the back of the now open wire stand. Of course, I was too slow to catch it and it hit the floor (no carpet) and broke a sizeable chunk of the tip off. In ay case...maybe the frailty of the glass mouthpiece makes you just that much more aware of being cautious with it.
I have a Palmorico and an O'Brien from around 1984. The tone production is slightly different. I believe they tend to give a smooth resistence throughout the registers and this smoothness, in my opinion can be heard in the sound. I've found a couple of hard-rubber mouthpieces to offer a similar quality so it may not be unique to crystal.
Don't be afraid of crystal mouthpieces. Try 'em.
Robert Moody
http://www.musix4me.com
Free Clarinet Lessons and Digital Library!
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: OpusII
Date: 2004-12-20 09:37
I've sold mine crystal baby about 5 years ago. I don’t think that the crystal produces that smoothness, but it does something to the sound… I really can’t tell what it is….
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: sfalexi
Date: 2004-12-20 11:56
I just started using a Pomarico crystal MP. To me it sounds a little brighter. Of course this is probably partially due to me getting the "bright" instead of the "mellow" model. But in order to keep it from being TOO bright I make sure to keep a loose embouchure and not pinch at all. That keeps it in check.
Go ahead and try them out. It doesn't hurt to try.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Don Berger
Date: 2004-12-20 14:38
The observations of R M and Alexi, are similar to mine, the only crystal that I had the mellow/bright "choice" on is for my Alto cl. My old Bass cl GG's with an M Lurie lig , soft reeds, double lip also play "mellow". If you believe that the density of the mp material makes a noticeable difference, [lead] glass is about twice that of H R or plastic. On Bb glasses, I tend to prefer using a Rovner type lig, turned backwards , where the rods grip the sides of the reed [adjusting screw near lips] to get a darker sound [lesser energies in the high overtones?]. Also the R ligs have greater adjustability than the usual metal ligs. Just my thots. Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: sfalexi
Date: 2004-12-20 14:55
I also (similar to Don) prefer a rovner style ligature with the crystal. To me it seems to mellow it out a bit as well. Although I haven't yet tried putting it on inverted (although I will directly after submitting this post). The rovner style conteracts any "slipperyness" you may encounter with a crystal, and offers superb grip on it should you need to adjust the rotation of the mouthpiece or switch mouthpieces between instruments. And as Don pointed out, a fabric ligature with one adjusting screw will fit pretty much anything.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: bill28099
Date: 2004-12-20 15:30
I've played on crystal mouthpieces all of my life. The only hard rubber mouthpiece I've ever used for any length of time was a Vandoren 2RV. I prefer a 30+ year old Clarion HS*, however, a new Selmer #2 works pretty well for me too. My Leblanc Symphonie tends to be a bit sharp with crystal, a Sumner #3 or Morgan RM-15 brings me down but I just don't like the sound even though they are much easier blowing. I use an inverted Bonade and have always put up with the problem of removing the ligature and reed before removing the mouthpiece.
A great teacher gives you answers to questions
you don't even know you should ask.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: GBK
Date: 2004-12-20 17:22
Even though I have a number of fine mouthpieces as back-ups, I've used the same pair of Vandoren crystal mouthpieces for more than 30 years.
To give a better grip and prevent some metal ligatures from slipping on a crystal mouthpiece, put one or 2 strips of masking tape on the inside bands of the ligature...GBK
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: sfalexi
Date: 2004-12-20 17:34
GBK wrote:
> To give a better grip and prevent some metal ligatures from
> slipping on a crystal mouthpiece, put one or 2 strips of
> masking tape on the inside bands of the ligature...GBK
Or take a very thin, clear mouthpiece patch, cut it into three strips, and apply to the sides and back of the mouthpiece (not the front where the reed lays). This will provide grip as well.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
