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Reeds or Mouthpiece?

Author: Michelle
Date: 2007-09-13 06:29

I ran into some interesting results this evening while playing my clarinets. I got out all my mouthpieces, set up both of my main clarinets (E&S K series and Amati 515) and played all my mouthpieces on both clarinets, one after the other. I found that if I used one particular reed nearly all my mouthpieces played on both clarinets, even several that have been in the back of the bottom drawer because I didn't like them at all. In particular, an old Selmer crystal mpc that I have never gotten a good sound on sang beautifully! I switched the reed and it was back to stuffy and resistant. I switched back and continued on, finding that nearly every mouthpiece was easily playable with this one particular reed.

Is this common? Does this one reed just fit me perfectly and allow me to play well on all these various mouthpieces, or is there something else going on that I'm missing? There is a big difference in how both clarinets sound, one being bright and the other mellow (imho) but with this one reed the sound was clear and the playability free. I found that the Amati was pickier in it's mouthpiece and offered more resistance, but even that opened up with certain combinations. It really choked up with some mouthpieces and a different reed. The E&S was more forgiving, as far as ease of play and clear tone goes.

Does this experience mean anything? Probably not, but it was interesting. Anyone else find the "holy grail" of reeds opens up mouthpiece options for you that are unplayable with others?

Michelle

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