 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Buster
Date: 2013-03-15 06:24
I've tried and I've tried and I've tried, but I just cannot make the Vandoren M15 work for me.
Reserve Classics, V12 and Vandoren Blue Box have all been auditioned, from strength 3.5 to 5. But I just cannot "get comfortable" with the mouthpiece.
Any thoughts?, as I am lost.
(FWIW I play on both Buffet R13 and Yamaha CSGHII prototypes, with the Benade and Optimum ligature.)
-Jason
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2013-03-15 09:42
The M15 is a bit closed and may not be for everyone. It is also has a fairly long lay (relative to tip opening) and this also may make it a bit "extreme."
I've found the M13 or the (good ol') 5RV Lyre to be more generic and "bullet proof."
And finally if you can stomach more Vandoren, you should try the Masters CL4. Though it has some of the M15ishness about it (down to the smaller sound), it does a lot of things well.
..................Paul Aviles
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Author: kdk
Date: 2013-03-15 12:59
Ummm...
If you don't like it, why bother any further. How lost can you be? What were you using before?
Karl
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Author: mcaswell
Date: 2013-03-15 15:14
Just goes to show you how different we all are... I tried the M15, M13 Lyre, M30, 5RV Lyre, and B45, and the M15 was the clear winner for me (with the M13 Lyre a close second).
--Michael
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Author: bethmhil
Date: 2013-03-15 15:35
Agreed. We are all different. I have a naturally strident sound, and I need a mouthpiece that darkens & rounds out the brightness; the M13, M30 & M30 Lyre work well for that... I found that the M15 makes my tone even thinner and more brittle. Yet, there are people in my studio who are very successful on the M15. Different mouthpieces exist because everyone is different and has different needs.
BMH
Illinois State University, BME and BM Performance
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Author: Clarimeister
Date: 2013-03-15 21:42
I never really liked the M15. Just recently tried some again, just for the heck of it. Didn't like the sound. Too thin, not as big of a sound and not as round as my M30. I love my M30.
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Author: LJBraaten
Date: 2013-03-16 06:26
Jason,
The phrases "cannot make [it] work for me" and "cannot get comfortable with [it]" could suggest several different things to me. But you may have something else in mind; so what exactly do you mean to communicate by them? How are you "lost" because of this? (Why is playing this mouthpiece important to you?). Also what MPs/facings, etc. are you comparing it to?
FWIW I can honestly say my (10 day old) M15 88 works fine for me (articulation, response , tone, and with some of the reeds you mention), so I'm very comfortable with it (seems like a fairly easy player). I'm comparing to an M13L, 5RVL and similar facings. {Edit: it seems to do better with reeds that were too hard for the M13L & 5RVL.} But of course that may be absolutely no help to you.
Laurie
Laurie (he/him)
Post Edited (2013-03-16 21:12)
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Author: clarinetguy ★2017
Date: 2013-03-16 13:27
I played one for several years and had success with it until I moved on to something different. Vandoren (and others) say this is a mouthpiece for harder reeds--3 1/2 and higher--but I had the greatest success using #3 regular Reserves. You could even try 2 1/2 Reserves and clip them slightly.
Post Edited (2013-03-16 16:34)
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Author: mcaswell
Date: 2013-03-16 15:28
"Agreed. We are all different. I have a naturally strident sound, and I need a mouthpiece that darkens & rounds out the brightness; the M13, M30 & M30 Lyre work well for that."
And even more evidence of our differences... though I played well with the M13, I actually found it to be thinner/brighter than the M15! I did like the sound of the M30, but the M15 felt more comfortable playing. Once I develop a better embouchure (I just started playing again about 3-4 months ago, after a 25 year break), I may try the M30 again, or the M30 Lyre.
--Michael
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Author: NBeaty
Date: 2013-03-16 17:00
"Thinner\Brighter"
Two words that fall into very different categories. Thinner (lacking density, depth, full-ness) and Brighter (more easily 'visible', effervescent, vibrant, resonant, etc). It would be in all of our best interest to understand that, even if you disagree with whether or not brightness generally good, we make sure to note that these two words are not synonymous.
It is also worth mentioning that it is not just our differences of opinion, but our difference in philosophical approach to sound and the interaction between our body and our setup that differs. It's easy to have a mellow (by design) mouthpiece like the M15 sound too bright to someone and too mellow to another simply by their personal thought on what "bright" and "mellow" mean.
Choice of reeds can also make a generally mellow mouthpiece sound "bright" or vice versa. We need to look at mouthpieces for what they are by design. The M15 is a long facing with a fairly close tip, coupled with vandoren's material which is somewhat mellow and\or lacking in complexity of sound. The facing and tip design is what makes them say that it is capable of playing well with a harder reed. Most people I know that use M15's don't use particularly hard reeds (usually around V12 or blue box 3.5).
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Author: marcia
Date: 2013-03-16 18:16
>I've tried and I've tried and I've tried, but I just cannot make the Vandoren >M15 work for me.
There is a myraid of moutpieces out there waiting for you to try. Go and enjoy!
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Author: gwie
Date: 2023-12-05 08:14
I used to play the M15 with Vandoren V12 4.5 and 5.0 reeds back in graduate school.
While it worked for me at the time, as I've gotten older, I ran into fatigue and some facial muscle pain with that setup, so I stopped playing on it.
Very happy with my Behn Epic HCV with ARIA 3.5 reeds!
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Author: Jimis4klar
Date: 2024-07-13 00:01
From all Vandorens I tried so far, I think the M15 works the best for me. I have a good profile 88 and tried some 13 series too. In the beginning I thought the 13 have a deeper sound which might be beneficial but eventually found the profile 88's response is more to my liking(tuning is adjusted by barrel in every case). I think I'm also gonna try the traditional beak this time which I have an old 5RV Lyre in that form. It's quite good but the thinner rails make not as controllable to me.
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Author: David Eichler
Date: 2024-07-13 06:29
1. Have you tried more than one copy of this mouthpiece? Mouthpieces of the same model can, and often do, vary, sometimes markedly. And sometimes a particular copy of a mouthpiece is just a dud, but maybe can be saved with refacing.
2. Maybe this type of mouthpiece just doesn't work for you.
3. Maybe the hard reeds such a mouthpiece tends to require don't work for you.
4. Try several Vandoren 5RV Lyres with a Vandoren reed in the #3.5 to #4 range and see what happens. This is a good middle-of-the road, medium-close concert mouthpiece that seems to work for many people.
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Author: MikeSF
Date: 2024-07-13 13:19
LJBraaten wrote:
> A heads up: this thread is nine years old!
>
But in that case, I wonder if the OP has tamed that bad boy by now.
Fwiw, M15 it's currently my favorite mouthpiece, and I find it very easy to get a good sound. I use the vandoren V12 4 and working toward 4.5.
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Author: Burt
Date: 2024-07-14 04:01
Did you try different reeds with each mouthpiece? The smaller tip openings and longer lays need a harder reed., just the opposite for large tip openings and short lays.
Burt Marks
M30
Legere Euro 3.25-3.5
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Author: Jimis4klar
Date: 2024-07-14 17:14
Yes, I did try some of profile 88 and of 13 series. But I definitely think I have to try more because they vary a lot in response and even when I look at the rails, one has a thinner top rail and another one has thicker top rail. For now I've found a very good profile 88 but regretting my previous thought about trying traditional beak, I'll try more of 13 series to find one with similar response to my current profile 88. 13 series feel like It plays more balanced and being able to fill it with air more, although propably with some exchange in the immediacy of the sound coming out. V12 3.5 is my reed of choice. It might seem light for this mouthpiece but It works. I've tried also 3.5+, It works as well but I loose mobility in playing. M15s seem to be my favourite mouthpieces from Vandorens, having tried periodically M30, M30 Lyre, 5RV Lyre, all BDs(except the HD),B40, B45 Lyre, M13, M13 Lyre.
Post Edited (2024-07-14 17:23)
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