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Author: Nicole Y.
Date: 2000-04-02 00:44
Hey all,
Well I've been playing my B45 for over a year now and I never knew that I had such resistance to it until today. Today was my first lesson with my private teacher. *And can he play!!!* I have never noticed it until now. He had me try his mouthpiece on my clarinet with my reed and his was really free blowing. I mean I got a really free big sound. And then I tried it on his clarinet and I can "fill the sound". So anyone wanna enlighten me on a more hand-finished mouthpice...versus my B45?
The Freshman,
Nicole Y.
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Author: Fred
Date: 2000-04-02 00:47
What kind of mouthpiece was he using? I'd like to get me some of dat, too.
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Author: Joris van den Berg
Date: 2000-04-02 01:06
First thing to try would be a B40 eq. It's not a handmade one, but it's much more free blowing than a B45.
Greetings, Joris van den Berg
(atm playing on a partially handmade Viotto N1)
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Author: Kim
Date: 2000-04-02 01:15
Although expensive, I would definitely recommend custom made mouthpieces. These are Greg Smith, Borbeck, Pyne, Clark Fobes, and Hawkins. Other high quality mouthpieces are Gennusa, Gigilotti, and Bay. You just have to try these makers and pick the one you like the best! Good luck!
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Author: Kontragirl
Date: 2000-04-02 02:24
I love my Gigliotti, even if it isn't custom made. What you can do is run down to your favorite local music store and try out mouthpieces. The problem with magazines is that they charge shipping and handling, along with a restocking charge. When I tryed mine out they didn't charge anything because I bought a mouthpiece from them. Who knows, maybe a easier blowing mouthpiece will help with your braces.
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Author: beejay
Date: 2000-04-02 15:59
I've long used a B45. Dropped it, and had to buy a new one. It is much, much easier to blow than the one I had before. I tried several of the same model, and each had different characteristics.
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Author: William
Date: 2000-04-02 16:45
Also, it may be in the care that was given by your instructor in preparing the his reed for his own personal mp. Reeds usually do not play very well "straight out of the box" and need to be broken in and balanced to your individual mp to perform at their best.
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Author: Nicole Y.
Date: 2000-04-02 16:50
Wait a minute. I tried my reed on his mouthpiece on both my clarinet and his. I also tried his reed on his mouthpiece...he was playing Zonda's...not much difference compared to my Marca's. His clarinet is a Buffet...and it was really nice and mine is a Noblet. On both his mouthpiece was MUCH easier to play and my sound was stuffy like on my B45.
The Freshman,
Nicole Y.
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Author: Mike M
Date: 2000-04-21 16:49
I played on B45’s for about 5 years. I think it’s basically a good responsive mouthpiece for the intermediate student. (although some European stars use it like Kjell-Inge Stenvensson - but his is not the type of tone that I would want to imitate). A year ago my instructor (formerly with the Moscow Symphony and Moscow Phil.) switched me over to the Vandoren B40. I actually tested more than a dozen B40s in one setting and they were all a bit different. I agree with my teacher that the B40 has a much more interesting sound, is more free-blowing, and is capable of much greater power. But, after having tried custom Kaspar and Chedeville copies I don’t think I’ll ever go back to Vandoren. You didn’t say what kind of mouthpiece your teacher uses, but I’m guessing it’s not any Vandoren model (unless he has a strong European influence).
One warning though, it can be difficult to evaluate different mouthpieces because different mouthpiece facings require different reed strengths. Also, many of the custom mouthpieces aren’t available in music stores; you have to go directly to the maker. I’d suggest that you discuss it further with your teacher and consider one of the Gregory Smith models (http://www.gregory-smith.com/models.htm) or Tom Ridenour mouthpieces (http://home1.gte.net/klarinet/), or others.
It’s also helpful to have a very precise idea of the kind of sound you’re looking for. There are many schools of thought as to what is the ideal sound. This topic is probably worthy of some discussion with your teacher too. -- Good luck.
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