 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: ggennitti
Date: 2006-07-18 21:00
I have a Vandoren 5JB, but am having difficulty playing it. What reed strength works best, I use Rico 2 & 2.5. Is that too soft, too hard? Thanks in advance for your comments.
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Author: Merlin
Date: 2006-07-18 21:04
The 5JB has an enormous tip opening, and is designed to be used with very soft reeds.
What mouthpiece did you play previously?
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Author: ggennitti
Date: 2006-07-18 21:14
I play on the Selmer Goldtone, I also use the mouthpiece that was supplied with my Buffet R13, but I don't like the feel. The reason for going with the 5JB, is because I have been getting into alot of jazz, and I wanted to see if I could get a better sound with it.
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Author: Steve Epstein
Date: 2006-07-18 21:28
Define what you mean by a "better" sound.
I own a 5JB that I rarely use, either on my Bb or C. I find it generally too loud, and yet, still not loud enough to cut over the sound of electric guitars amped to 11. I don't sound bad on it but sound "prettier" on a medium open mp, like a B45 Lyre or a Woodwind K 10 M. I have more control on those, can get any type of sound I want. Maybe if I regularly played Greek/Macedonian/Bulgarian - type clarinet I'd find more use for the 5JB.
Kenny Davern, I understand, though, plays a Pomarico upon which the 5JB was supposedly modeled.
Steve Epstein
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Author: Simon
Date: 2006-07-19 00:17
In response to the original question you need to play on softer reeds, depending on the strength of your emboucher you may have to start with 1.5.
I got my 5JB yesterday as I always wanted one, my fatherinlaw was kind enough to give me one. I previously have played on a B45 and when I tried the 5JB yesterday I had dificulty even playing on a 1.5 Ricoh Royale.
I do play Macedonian music.
I thought this was suppose to be easier to blow. Does it mean I should go down to 1? I wanted the 5JB so I could overcome some of the fast/dynamic passages associated with Macedonian music. Please any comments advice would be appreciated.
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Author: leonardA
Date: 2006-07-19 20:50
I had David Spigelthal reface a Vandoren B45 and he made it play great. His email address id dspieg@earthlink.net. He is often a contributing member of this board and wonderful to deal with.
Leonard
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Author: ned
Date: 2006-07-20 02:59
''I find it generally too loud, and yet, still not loud enough to cut over the sound of electric guitars amped to 11''
I don't think there's a yet mouthpiece made which will allow this anyway.
''I could play my 5JB, but it ain't worth it.''
Why is this?
------------------------------------------
For the record, I play a Rico Royal 3 1/2 with my 5JB. A Meyer *8 is also good for jazz, but I could not find the right reed for it.
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Author: Bob Phillips
Date: 2006-07-20 15:59
sorry
My "not worth it" comment on the 5JB just reflects my dissapointment in the sound, and responsiveness of this moutpiece. It just doesn't play well for me.
In great contrast, I'm getting along pretty well with a Vandoren M30/13 on my Buffet. This is a problematic mouthpiece with a very long lay, you need to almost swallow the thing to get the full, useful end of the reed involved with you. You can play up to the altissimo register with only a little bit of the mouthpiece in your mouth. Above that, it will stall. Then, you must take more mouthpiece; and the thing climbs up into the highest notes. My problem with this one is that I still (!) let it slip out of my face in the lower registers and then can't get the high notes to speak. Its been months, but I'm starting to "get it."
The 5JB is in my bag of "other" mouthpieces --the one I hand to kids saying, "try them and pick one."
Bob Phillips
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Author: sherman
Date: 2006-07-20 19:51
It is interesting to note that this very open mouthpiece was played and named for Jack Brymer, quite a great and lyrical clarinetist , born in 1915 and passed away in 2003. I always found it strange that such beautiful and imaginative playing could come from that facing. It was beautiful and always musical,whether he played the Mozart (and he made several recordings), or in one of the many London orchestras in which he played.
He sent me a very lovely letter commenting on my nice "low register" after hearing a CD and I was very pleased. Here is a quote from Mr Brymer which I especially like :
"It happens very rarely, but when it happens it's worth waiting for, that the instrument becomes part of your body".
Jack Brymer
When one gets such a comment one knows that he or she has achieved the goal of every clarinetist.
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Author: GBK
Date: 2006-07-20 20:15
sherman wrote:
> It is interesting to note that this very open mouthpiece was
> played and named for Jack Brymer, quite a great and lyrical
> clarinetist , born in 1915 and passed away in 2003.
I had always assumed that the "JB" in the 5JB designation was to signify the words "jazz" and "bec" , as in "Le bec de jazz" (the jazz mouthpiece)
...GBK
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Author: Bruno
Date: 2006-07-20 21:04
Kenny Davern told me that he designed the 5JB. Buddy De Franco played one for most of his early years - with a #4 reed. He now plays a mouthpiece of his own design. He sent me one. It stinks - unless you've got Buddy's chops I suppose. I couldn't play it for any length of time.
A 5JB does not make you "sound better", whatever that is - it just helps you play louder and like most mouthpieces has its own tonal characteristics. This according to the two sources above and the evidence of my own ears.
But I will say this; it's a great jazz mouthpiece, not played by too many players and impossible to play classical music with.
b/
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Author: Ken Mills
Date: 2006-07-20 21:56
I have written about the 5JB mpc on this site. I started out with the Mitchell Lurie no.2 reed and it played very well though not as powerful or dark, for that matter, as I later got because this mpc has the throat too small. So I filed the side walls further apart so that more air could go into the mpc's bore. This allowed me to drive a heavyduty Marca no.2 reed, they are like the Vandoren V12 but go to softer strengths. I am not kidding when I tell you that I could go up to double high C now with a relatively soft reed. Leave the area of the chamber around the tip just as shallow as it was, what they call a high baffle, but further down the chamber the cavity should get bigger, but I play a large bore clarinet -- another reason to consider another type of mpc than Vandoren, but my customized version is excellent. Ken Mills
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Author: am0032
Date: 2006-07-20 21:59
Does the "RV" in 5RV Vandoren mouthpiece have any relation to a current or former clarinetist?
Adam
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Author: GBK
Date: 2006-07-20 22:02
am0032 wrote:
> Does the "RV" in 5RV Vandoren mouthpiece have any relation to a
> current or former clarinetist?
Robert Vandoren ...GBK
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Author: super20dan
Date: 2006-07-21 22:53
i have to use rico1.5 to play my 5jb and even then i cant last very long on it. this mpc takes iron chops ! i prefer runyon jazz mpcs and when i need to go nuke-my rico metalite
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Author: Synonymous Botch
Date: 2006-07-22 13:35
If I understood Kenny correctly (I heard him after a gig in Arizona), it was designed to be used by an expert player with 2.5 reeds.
I can't get ANY sound from one with anything stiffer than a shaved (paper thin) #2.... and it's strident.
Kenny takes a great deal of mouthpiece, and could probably fill a blimp...
Me, I don't care to work that hard.
Medium length facing, medium tip opening, Legere #3.25 Quebec cut.
Plenty loud when needed, lots of flexibility.
Personally, I would emulate Reginal Kell rather than KD...
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Author: cyclopathic
Date: 2014-02-21 16:03
Synonymous Botch wrote:
> If I understood Kenny correctly (I heard him after a gig in
> Arizona), it was designed to be used by an expert player with
> 2.5 reeds.
>
> I can't get ANY sound from one with anything stiffer than a
> shaved (paper thin) #2.... and it's strident.
>
VD lists 2.5 V12 and #1.5-2 blue box.. can't believe it is listed with 147 tip op
http://www.vandoren.com/en/fprod/Becs%20de%20clarinette%20Sib%20en.pdf
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2014-02-21 18:00
I can't let the idea that "more open" means "louder" go unchalleged. You could literally be the hardest blowing clarinetist around and not get your sound out to the audience.
Why is that?
We are not actually hitting the members of the audience with our "air," we are generating resonance that either carrys or it doesn't. In a recent conversation with a colleague we discussed the problem of being heard over the context of a full orchestra. One quote that came from Larry Comb's was, "the problem most clarinetists have is that they strive for the sound they hear from a distance." By that he meant that you need to have more overtones in your ACTUAL sound to carry further, up, and over a large ensemble. And here IS the problem. One needs to balance the satisfaction with what you "think you hear" vs. what is being heard by others. The angst recently expressed by my colleague was that a mouthpiece that seemed almost intolerably buzzy in his head, was achieving a much clearer, more audible sound in recordings and in the hall with much less effort.
For job security, the choice is easy.
Sanity may be a different story.
.........................Paul Aviles
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Author: donald
Date: 2014-02-21 19:31
I'd love to know the truth re whether this mouthpiece really was designed for Jack Brymer (which, no offence to Sherman, I sort of doubt). I've personally never quite understood the need for this type of "jazz mouthpiece" as I can gliss, bend, growl etc on my classical setup.
dn
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2014-02-22 03:54
Also Jack Brymer played a Boosey and Hawkes Symphony 1010 clarinet. A Vandoren mouthpiece would NOT work on one of those.
...........Paul Aviles
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