 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: ajay91
Date: 2006-11-19 00:16
I have been playing clarinet since I was 8 or 9, so thats around 6 or 7 years now. When I was 12, my family bought me a Buffet E13 with a chrystal mouthpiece. Ifound that it was fantastic, and worked really well for me, until this year anyway. It sounded really bad, so I ditched the chrystal mouthpiece and it sounded heaps better. With the wooden clarinet, I was still struggling to make a noise. It just wasnt working any more! So I had the plasitic mouthpiece and it sounded better, but still I was struggling with high B.
Recently, we decided to sell the E13. I've been using my old Buffet plastic (its the standard one i think!) and it sounds fantastic. Strange thing is though, I have been using the crystal mouthpiece with it and it works really well, better than the plastic!
But I still think I can improve upon this. The reed I use is generally a Vandoren 2 (just the normal vandorens). I really feel like I need (and want) to move up. I have used vandoren 2.5 and 3s before, but that was a long time ago. At the moment, I do have a teacher but not one who has really reccomended anything about reeds to me.
Does anyone have any suggestions because I know that I should be on a higher reed, I can kinda tell when I play. What brands would you suggest?
Ajay
PS, I remember my old teacher saying once that she had gotten free reed samples...?
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Author: Cuisleannach
Date: 2006-11-19 05:45
If it sounds good and it feels good, it is good. Let sleeping dogs (and mp/reed combinations) lie. Don't let the number of the reed cloud your decision. Because of my set-up I play a 5 that's had a bit of cane removed and it works for me, even though I've had criticism on this very board for playing that size "just because of the number. Playing a hard reed doesn't make you macho and playing a soft reed doesn't make you weak....it's all what you play. Most people will settle on a strength that works for them, and for a lot of people that's usually in the 3 1/2 range.
If you can play a really strong ff without the reed closing up and a really soft pp without biting your reed is probably the right strength. If you can't do the former it is too soft, and if you can't do the latter it is probably too hard.
One thing you might try are the Vandoren V-12's (in roughly the same strength, give or take a 1/2 size). I find them to have a little bit more stability than the blue-box vandorens. If you'd like to have more consistency the vandoren hand-selects are expensive but nice. Mitchell Lurie is another popular brand, as is Rico (which I've never liked). I've recently had some success with Zonda reeds, but you have to check the lay of your mouthpiece carefully as they tend to be a little thinner (across the reed) than vandorens.
-Randy
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Author: BobD
Date: 2006-11-19 13:21
I'll trade ya some free reeds for the chrystal mouthpiece.
Bob Draznik
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