 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Bill
Date: 2012-11-11 21:53
If for every *reasonably* faced mouthpiece (not crazy messed up) there exists at least one reed that will cause it to play beautifully, how do we decide what is a good mouthpiece?
Bill Fogle
Ellsworth, Maine
(formerly Washington, DC)
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Author: Caroline Smale
Date: 2012-11-11 22:29
I would guess that the real test would be how many reeds from a box of 10 (or 100 etc) enable the mouthpiece to provide beautiful results.
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2012-11-12 00:48
What Norman said. For any given player, the 'better' the mouthpiece is for that player, the greater the percentage of reeds (and number of brands) that will work well with it.
When I reface a mouthpiece I don't just try one reed with it and, if it plays well, call it done. I try dozens of reeds of various brands, and the mouthpiece has to play decently with a high percentage of them or it goes back upstairs for more "punishment".
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2012-11-12 14:04
I'm an amateur, and I don't collect clarinets, honest, I don't, even though I seem to own ... mmm, never mind how many (wouldn't want to be mistaken for a clarinerd or a clarinutcase, now, would I?); but fwiw, I also agree. Reed and mouthpiece combinations in my, er, non-collection vary a great deal. Combinations that sound great on one clarinet can be atrocious on another.
I do think bad mouthpieces and bad reeds exist, however -- just plain bad, no good for anything.
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
Post Edited (2012-11-12 14:06)
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2012-11-13 02:57
When I found my present mouthpiece about 20 years ago, it's a very old Morgan, one of his very first, I loved the sound so I decided to buy it but had a very difficult time making a reed for it. It was a time I made my own. I put it way for a while but came back to it in about a month becuase I loved the tone. I spent a week learning how to make my reeds to fit the mouthpiece and I've never looked back. When I switched to Rico Grand Concert Thick Blanks it because very easy to match a reed to it because by that time, several years, I was so used to the Morgan I felt very comfortable with it. So what I'm saying is that if you find a mouthpiece that gives you something special you need to find a way to adjust your reeds to it. If you can't, than it's not so special.
ESP eddiesclarinet.com
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Author: Bill
Date: 2012-11-13 16:49
Neat! That's where I started, with a 1995 Morgan RM-10. I probably should have stayed there but curiosity killed the cat.
Ed Palanker wrote:
> When I found my present mouthpiece about 20 years ago, it's a
> very old Morgan, one of his very first, I loved the sound so I
> decided to buy it but had a very difficult time making a reed
> for it. It was a time I made my own. I put it way for a while
> but came back to it in about a month becuase I loved the tone.
> I spent a week learning how to make my reeds to fit the
> mouthpiece and I've never looked back. When I switched to Rico
> Grand Concert Thick Blanks it because very easy to match a reed
> to it because by that time, several years, I was so used to the
> Morgan I felt very comfortable with it. So what I'm saying is
> that if you find a mouthpiece that gives you something special
> you need to find a way to adjust your reeds to it. If you
> can't, than it's not so special.
>
Bill Fogle
Ellsworth, Maine
(formerly Washington, DC)
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Author: Donald Casadonte
Date: 2012-11-20 19:28
If for every *reasonably* faced mouthpiece (not crazy messed up) there exists at least one reed that will cause it to play beautifully, how do we decide what is a good mouthpiece?
We can, in theory, decide what is the best reed for a given mouthpiece, but so far we do not have the theory to decide what is a good mouthpiece. This, still, must be judged by trial and error. It is possible, in theory, to design the perfect mouthpiece for a given clarinet, but no one has, to my knowledge, at least, put in the time to do it.
Donald Casadonte
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2012-11-20 19:38
"It is possible, in theory, to design the perfect mouthpiece for a given clarinet, but no one has, to my knowledge, at least, put in the time to do it."
First of all, mouthpiece manufacture is more of an art than a science. As far as I'm aware there is no complete and correct mathematical/physical description of a clarinet mouthpiece which, if it could be physically realized exactly in a stable material, would be guaranteed to work with any given clarinet (or, for that matter, with any clarinet at all). Mouthpiece making is an empirical process that has developed mostly through trial and error over centuries of effort by many individuals.
Secondly, what any good mouthpiece maker does for a particular customer is, in fact, 'put in the time' to produce the "perfect" mouthpiece by that customer's standards for that instrument.
Thirdly, define "perfect". There is no "theory" for the design of something nebulous, subjective and intangible.
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Author: Buster
Date: 2012-11-20 19:47
I don't know this qualifies as a Dan Leeson-esque answer; nor is it remotely a theory that can be fleshed-out into a full fledged test, yet....
I think a mouthpiece that is "good" is one that makes me forget I'm playing any particular mouthpiece at all, and frees me to react to everything that presents itself in any given setting.
Not too helpful I know, but I can not summon up anything more concrete or helpful unfortunately.
-Jason (-esque?)
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