 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: autumnsilence
Date: 2008-11-05 01:38
So i recently bought a crystal mouthpiece, the Ruby Mellow... the facing is a little different than my current mouthpiece but its not that bad. I had to use a softer reed but for some reason there seems to be alot of resistance when i blow into it. I can play it fine but i can only play at a fairly soft volume, i cant do anything dynamic wise or increase my volume liek i could on my old one and i dont know why, also i was wondering if maybe thats what the "mellow" meant or if it doesnt have anything to do with that... any help would be nice thanks
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: C2thew
Date: 2008-11-05 02:16
i use a 2 1/2 on my crystal mpc when i use it. A size 3 is too hard.
Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things. they are but improved means to an unimproved end, an end which was already but too easy to arrive as railroads lead to Boston to New York
-Walden; Henry Thoreau
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: GBK
Date: 2008-11-05 02:34
Although hard rubber mouthpieces can be inconsistent, crystal mouthpieces, due to the nature of the manufacturing process, can vary wildly, even within the same size and facing.
Therefore, it is even more important than with hard rubber to sample MANY crystal mouthpieces of the same type to find the one that is free blowing and "live."
Along the way you are sure encounter many duds, whose stuffy qualities are probably not worth the time or effort to fix / reface.
From your description, you might have a very poor one...GBK
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Geirskogul
Date: 2008-11-05 05:39
I prefer the Emerald Mellow, personally. The Ruby or Diamond seem a bit too open for me. My "Open" mouthpiece is a Hite Premier (1.11 or 1.09 depending on what you read), which is in line with the Sapphire I think.
Does anyone else have the measurements from Pomarico? I'm on a phone right now and I can't see the popup with the openings/facings
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: clarnibass
Date: 2008-11-05 05:49
>> Along the way you are sure encounter many duds, whose stuffy
>> qualities are probably not worth the time or effort to fix / reface
I had a Pomarico 0 model. This model doesn't exist in any catalogue or on Pomarico's website. It was bought in a store in Italy when the buyer asked for the most closed mouthpiece. It was the most resistant mouthpiece I've ever tried with extremely small tip opening and I think short facing. I've tried some bad glass mouthpieces and none came close to the resistance of this one. This mouthpiece was refaced and after it became excellent. It requires very hard reeds (at least 4, probably stronger) but with these hard reeds it plays great. The refacing cost less than $30 if I remember right and was done by Dave Spiegelthal who also posts on this forum. If I wanted to play a glass mouthpiece with hard reeds I would play that mouthpiece.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: autumnsilence
Date: 2008-11-05 06:01
Emerald= 1.02mm, 18 facing
Ruby= 1.09mm, 18 facing
Sapphire= 1.15mm, 20 facing
Diamond= 1.25mm, 20 facing
The mouthpiece i have been using before this was the Buffet mouthpiece that comes with the instrument (i couldnt find the measurments online so i dont know it) and i used size 3 reeds with it... with the crystal mouthpiece, i went down to a size 2 reed and i have no problem playing it i just have a problem with projecting my sound.. i have only had the mouthpiece for a few days so if i needed to I could always get it swaped out, but should i go to a more open one (sapphire most likely) or should i just get a different ruby one assuming that its just the variances in the mouthpieces and not the tip opening thats the problem? also, does anyone know what the actual difference between the "mellow" and "bright" is? just curious.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Bassie
Date: 2008-11-05 12:57
It really sounds like this one isn't for you. How did you make the choice? It's /always/ a good idea to try a few different ones, whatever you might have had in mind when you went shopping. If this can still be arranged, I'd take the opportunity. I mean, I once looked at all the mouthpiece charts and persuaded a local retailer to get me an M30 to try. Could I get it to sing? Could I heck, it just wouldn't wake up for me. I walked out of that same store with a B45 dot.
This side of the pond, it's relatively easy to get sale-or-return mouthpieces mail order, if you can't get to a good store. [But then, 1.15 is a medium facing over here. :-) ]
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
