 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: AS
Date: 2007-12-25 18:44
I just started to play clarinet. Actually rather – restarted after quite a long pause, about 20 years to be more exact. I began with Rico Royal reed No 2. Everything seemed to be in order – nice, strong sound, no squeals, could go from pianissimo to fortissimo without excessive effort. Could get any sound in any register without problem. Mouthpiece that I had is a standard Leblanc that came with the clarinet (did not find any signs on it except for Leblanc name). I have no idea of figures for opening or facing length.
After playing for a while (few weeks) I tried several other reeds of different strength. I was very surprised that the sound got pretty bad when I switched to 2.5 reed. By bad I mean weaker sound, some sounds having very pronounced hiss, particularly in the middle register. Even though I blow quite hard I cannot get above mezzo piano. Pianissimo sounds almost like pure hiss without much of clarinet sound. Then I tried No 3 reed and the things went totally out of control. All the same problems as described above, however now at their extreme. Could hardly get any sound out of the instrument.
Does it mean that I have to progress more to use harder reeds, or it has anything to do with my technique? I remember vaguely from my previous playing that a player progresses from a softer reed to a harder one. I also wonder what is that thing that develops with practicing: producing more air pressure, or stronger embouchure or anything else?
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Author: Gandalfe
Date: 2007-12-26 00:01
Sometimes change takes a little time to normalize. Give the 2.5 reed a couple of weeks and it will become your normal reed strength. It would be nice to be working with a clarinet instructor for a while in the beginning. Might save you a lot of time and grief.
Jim and Suzy
Pacifica Big Band
Seattle, Washington
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Author: johng ★2017
Date: 2007-12-26 14:13
When just starting, or re-starting, your embouchure is not yet up to strength and softer reeds are the way to go. I usually use a sports metaphor with my students and tell them they wouldn't want to run a 10k race without having built their strength with lots of shorter races. (or in my case, a .2K race).
The other factor here might be the mouthpiece. Stock mouthpieces are not always the best and you might try a better mouthpiece sometime when you get your music legs...another metaphor! Different mouthpieces require different strengths of reeds. The stuffy tone you get with 2.5 and 3's may just reflect that. Don't hurry into it. Take your time and don't be sorry about playing on a soft reed for a while.
John Gibson, Founder of JB Linear Music, www.music4woodwinds.com
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Author: AS
Date: 2007-12-26 19:30
Many thanks for replies. Actually I did suspect that different mouthpiece might provide for a solution. A friend of mine has a spare Pomarico crystal Sapphire mouthpiece which I tried. According to specs it has 1.15mm opening and 20mm facing. Sound did improve a bit with No 2 reed - it got more pleasing, kind of softer. Also my wife noticed the positive difference. Playing was different though, seemed like blowing was a bit more difficult.
Trying Sapphire with 2.5 reed revealed better sound than with the stock Leblanc mouthpiece, but still stuffy with some hiss. So perhaps it is yet too early to switch to stronger reeds.
Or maybe the choice of mouthpiece was not succesful? Sapphire with 1.15 mm seems to be pretty open, should I try something more closed? On the other hand the open ones are recommended to fit softer reeds... or this is true just for trained professionals? Questions, questions ...
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2007-12-27 00:32
I've found crystal mouthpieces to be stuffier (ie harder to blow through) more in general than the others I've tried. So the resistance might still be the mouthpiece.
A good mouthpiece to start on and learn on would be a Clark Fobes Debut. I think it's around 30 bucks, and it's a very good mouthpiece. I think if you pick up one of these, you can succesfully take "mouthpiece error" out of the loop for your learning purposes.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2007-12-27 03:58
I would stay with the softer 2 reed until you feel comfortable moving up. The running is a good example! I only moved to running 6k for the first time after I already was able to run 5k easily. One day I just decided to try 6k because it felt like I could do it, and it wasn't hard. If I'm out of shape then 6k would be very hard or impossible. So same for reeds. Move up to 2.5 only when you feel it will play ok and will only need a slight push to make it your regular strength, not when you struggle to make it play.
> I've found crystal mouthpieces to be stuffier (ie harder
> to blow through) more in general than the others I've
> tried. So the resistance might still be the mouthpiece.
Could be true but I don't think it is because they are made of crystal. I've tried a lot of Pomaricos (and some Vandoren crystal mouthpieces) and they varied from being very resistant (almost like there was something wrong with it) to very free blowing. For example a Pomarico refaced by David Spiegelthal was not more resistant than any good mouthpiece. I think they are just made resistant in general, on purpose or not I don't know.
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2007-12-27 16:12
Quote:
Could be true but I don't think it is because they are made of crystal. I've tried a lot of Pomaricos (and some Vandoren crystal mouthpieces) and they varied from being very resistant (almost like there was something wrong with it) to very free blowing. Very well could be. I've only tried maybe ten so far and from what I've tried, one of them was freeblowing and easy. The rest ranged from a litle stuffy to very stuffy. I coulda just ended up with some stuffy ones.
I still say to get a good beginners mouthpiece (my vote is for Fobes Debut). They're made to be very reed-friendly, and a good mix of pretty much "medium" everything.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: John O'Janpa
Date: 2007-12-27 21:26
The object of playing a clarinet is the sound produced and the ability to articulate well. If you have a sound you are satisfied with and are able to easily play all the notes you want to play, there is no reason to "hurry" to a harder reed strength.
It's not a contest to see who can play the hardest reed.
Most players find that after their embouchre strengthens and their ear gets more refined, they find that a harder reed works better for them, but this is not an absolute and there is no race to move to the next harder reed.
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Author: AS
Date: 2007-12-28 14:37
Many thanks for thoughtful advice that all of you gave me. Especially I liked this one by John O'Janpa:
>>It's not a contest to see who can play the hardest reed.
Meanwhile I found my old clarinet with the mouthpiece that I played 20 years ago. I have no idea of brand or specs, it has no marks on it at all.
Tried it just out of curiosoty, first with No 2 Ricco Royal reed. Frankly, I was totally blown away with the ease of playing that this old mouthpiece gave me. In comparison with the stock Leblanc and the Pomarico Sapphire it was just like it was playing itself, I just had to do the finger work. No resistance at all! Well, almost...
Tried it with No 2.5 reed - the same that gave me hard times with other mouthpieces. Much better, much easier, much nicer sound. It was something like playing No.2 reed on the other mouthpieces.
I guess I'm just starting to understand this Holy Grail for mothpieces...
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Author: Clari9801SC
Date: 2007-12-31 16:58
I was started on a Rico 2 mouthpiece when I was just begininning as a high school student. After a year, I moved up to a Rico 3 and by the time I was in my third year I was moved to a Van Doren V12 size 3.5-4. I think that you will find it easier begininnign on a lower reed and then as you progress with your playing, you can gradually move up. Maybe try 6 month intervals and if you are not that patient 3 1/2 to 4.
"And in our living and in our dying and in our growing up that's the way we were" Thornton Wilder, Our Town
"If music be the food of love, play on" Shakespeare
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