Author: Roger Aldridge
Date: 2009-12-04 02:23
A simple answer is one does not have to use a "jazz" mouthpiece in order to play jazz on clarinet. The important thing is to have a really beautiful sound....dark, warm, resonant, and ringing. Then, you can play any type of music with that sound and adapt your playing style to the music.
Over the years, I've tried a wide range of clarinet mouthpieces. It's been my experience that I was not able to get the quality of sound I wanted with so-called jazz mouthpieces. Simply put, they did not have the level of resonance and ring that I want.
The mouthpiece that I've found to be a perfect match for my tonal conception is a Walter Grabner K14 (Kaspar style). A funny thing about this is Walter describes it as a jazz mouthpiece. However, its tip opening is 1.09 mm which is on the small side -- with most jazz clarinet mouthpieces being larger than 1.30 mm. Walter's K14 is only about .02 mm larger than the K13 model. So, we're not talking about a monster open tip mouthpiece. I've found the K14 to be very impressive. It has a naturally dark, fat, and resonant sound as well as an exceptional degree of projection. I have no problem being heard in a large jazz ensemble with this mouthpiece. It also works equally well for me in classical ensembles.
Good luck!
Roger
Post Edited (2009-12-04 02:24)
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The Clarinet BBoard
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