 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Max S-D
Date: 2006-11-28 08:14
I just switched over to Contra-Alto (from soprano) for kicks in my University Wind Ensemble. The mouthpiece supplied with the (leaky) plastic Bundy has a small "step" or "wedge" baffle like you might find in a jazz saxophone mouthpiece. I guess this is for easy sound production, but it seems like this is making the sound buzzy and thin. What is a contra mouthpiece supposed to look like on the inside? Is this baffle normal?
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2006-11-28 11:28
The Selmer C* contra-alto mouthpiece has no such baffle. I own a Bundy contra-alto and play it with a Selmer C*. I like that mouthpiece on that clarinet.
I'm curious: What's the brand of the mouthpiece with the baffle?
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2006-11-28 12:12
The contra-alto mouthpiece should look like a slightly enlarged bass clarinet mouthpiece, and that's also how the instrument should sound when well played. That mouthpiece of yours just ain't right!
Post Edited (2006-11-28 14:21)
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Author: LCL
Date: 2006-11-28 17:42
Or perhaps Walter Grabner's contra-alto mpc. of which I believe I have the prototype. And it is fantastic!
LCL
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Author: William Hughes ★2017
Date: 2006-11-28 17:47
Selmer C* contra-alto mouthpiece..........$185 (+ or -)
Refaced by David Spiegelthal..................Priceless
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Author: vollkommen
Date: 2006-11-28 23:48
A note about the Fobes mouthpieces. I emailed him a few months ago to inquire about a contrabass mouthpiece and he told me that the higher priced facings were going to get a price hike next year. I don't know if it would affect the contra alto mouthpiece prices, but I'd assume it would - so if you want to look into it you'd be better off financially to do it before January.
My friend plays on a Fobes for bass/contra and she really likes it. I don't have that much experience with it, but it does sound nice and it isn't terribly expensive.
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Author: LeeB
Date: 2006-11-29 00:37
I'm no expert on this, but my expert friends steered me to a Selmer D* contra alto mouthpiece (more open than the C*). I'm using a Marca 2 1/2 reed on this, and a Rovner 4RS ligature. I think the Rovner ligature really helps secure the reed properly. Especially for these bigger mouthpieces, it really makes a big difference. The D* sure plays wonderfully. It doesn't choke up, and is amazingly powerful on those low notes. It blows very easily. The C* is perhaps better for playing in the stratosphere on this instrument, but why use a contra alto clarinet if you want to play at the high extreme of the instrument's range? The money notes are at the low end.
I made the mistake of buying a C* for my newly acquired contra bass, and I'm not yet happy with it. The student mouthpiece that came with the horn plays much better (it's more open). I need to experiment with harder reeds and a Rovner ligature on the contra bass C*, but so far, I wish it was a D* instead.
Post Edited (2006-11-29 00:42)
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Author: Max S-D
Date: 2006-11-30 22:07
The mouthpiece is a bundy, and the baffle definitely looks sloppy and uneven. I'm not sure how it was put in there, I'll have to look more closely tonight at rehearsal. It sounds pretty gross, but I'm not playing it for very much longer this quarter (2 more days, actually), and then I think I'm dropping wind ensemble (the school won't let me take 27 credits next quarter!). If I were sticking around, I would probably ask them to look into the Fobes NOVA mouthpiece. I play one of his San Francisco models (RR facing) on bass clarinet, and it's beautiful. Of course, if I were sticking around, I would probably play on the nice Selmer model 33 bass clarinet and forget all of this contra stuff.
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Author: jim lande
Date: 2006-12-01 03:31
Clark Fobes (I believe) starts with Selmer C* mpcs and (IMHO) dramatically improves them. I have one for the large bore LeBlanc and one for the smaller bore Selmer (Which I have used on a bundy.)
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