 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: moeboy
Date: 2005-12-18 13:16
well i am here again most likely asking a question somebody did a long time ago. i am still looking for a good bass clarinet mouthpiece. i talked to my teacher about the situation, and he recomended vandorens, just because i have been playing them for about five years. common sense i guess. i would like to get one that will allow me to play over the break. i get really sick of my current mouthpiece; it doesn't allow me to play higher than Bb. i am basically looking for the best all around mouthpiece that vandoren has to offer. i would like anyones opinion that uses vandoren mouthpieces on what is my best solution.
thanks.
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Author: bass9396
Date: 2005-12-18 15:08
Your mouthpiece does not allow nor disallow you to do anything unless it is somehow badly warped, or the rails have receeded a great deal(which means it's really old). If your mouthpiece is new, or fairly new, then it will do anything given you have the right reed and ligature combination for YOU. In my opinion you need to practice playing in the upper Clarion and Altissimo before you start making judgments on mouthpieces based on this extremely narrow window of need.
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2005-12-18 15:13
We've been over this subject many times, make a Search please. IMHO and experience, there are many better B C mps than Vandoren's lineup. Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: bass9396
Date: 2005-12-18 16:19
Absolutely Don. I should have mentioned that I play Selmer D and they do great. Actually, any Selmer facing is nice, it just depends on which one you like.
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2005-12-18 16:52
I've tried a lot of Selmers and a lot of Vandorens for bass clarinet, and my experience that overall both are pretty good. Try not to order online, and go to the store. It's worth to invest a day to get a good mouthpiece.
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Author: Shorthand
Date: 2005-12-18 18:10
When we did our mouthpiece comparison, I had a couple of B45's in the mix. Nobody was impressed.
Honestly, I wish we had a B44 to compare against instead of a B45, but the B44 is at this point the only Vandoren bass clarinet mouthpiece I'd consder for ensemble classical playing.
I think you'll get more bang for your buck with a good C* or with a Grabner CX_BS_PERS.
(The CX_BZ was preferred by those playing on Selmer instruments over the CX_BS_PERS. Its a little more expensive, but is worth every penny, as are Walter's other mouthpieces, and certainly always consider Clark Fobes' offerings also worth every red cent.)
I had the chance to play my CX_BS_PERS in a small ensemble in a very very live brick church this morning and was extremely happy with the range of sounds it produced. Really confirmed to me that I made the right choice.
The other option is having Walter or David S. reface your current mouthpiece (what is it)? This is actually pretty cost effective.
I know it seems expensive, but consider how much of an improvement it makes comapred to how much you'd spend for a similar improvement out of a better instrument.
Budget the $40 or so it takes to get several mouthpieces in one place to compare.
Also, be aware that Vandoren DOES make its mouthpieces to very tight specs - there's no need to order more than one of a kind to compare, however don't expect such tight controls from any of the hand makes or from Selmer, so get at least 2 or 3 of each to try.
If you order from Grabner directly, I know he often makes an effort to give you a good distribution of tip openings (i.e. he makes sure the different mouthpieces are actually different within a consistent spread) so you really have some variety to work with. (This alone makes it worth the extra cost.)
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2005-12-18 19:32
After reading what Shorthand wrote I think I should add a little more.
I've tried all models from Vandoren and by far the best is the B40. Shorthand is right about Vandorens usually being consistent, but it is definitely worth trying more than one. I've recently tried four mouthpieces from Vandoren, all same model, and although they were very much the same, I could still notice a difference that caused me to like one better than the rest.
Selmers felt like the most inconsistent to me from all mouthpieces I've tried.
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Author: pewd
Date: 2005-12-18 21:31
>one that will allow me to play over the break.
have a shop check for leaks , if you can't get above a Bb there are other issues than just the mouthpiece.
- Paul Dods
Dallas, Texas
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Author: Shorthand
Date: 2005-12-18 21:39
Wow - none of us read the post carefully enough, did we?
Paul's absolutely right - its likely a leak that is your first order of business. By the way, with Bass Clarinets it is especially important (not that its not important for soprano clarinets, but they don't go out of whack as often) to find the good local woodwind guy. You'll waste money going to anyone else. Your band director or private teacher should know who that is (and it should be who they themselves use, as opposed to who the school has a contract with - though the two MAY coincide.)
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Author: moeboy
Date: 2005-12-19 01:36
i never thought of leaks....though i do play a selmer bundy old student model.....
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Author: bass9396
Date: 2005-12-19 01:45
Those Bundys are good little horns, but the top two trill keys tend to leak easily. Good thinking pewd.
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