 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Mike B.
Date: 2001-03-21 07:05
Do you use the same or different mouthpieces for your Bb and A clarinets?
If you use a different mouthpiece, does the mouthpiece for your A clarinet have a more open or closed facing than your Bb mouthpiece, and why do you prefer the difference?
What is the mouthpiece/reed setup on your A clarinet?
What is the make and model of your A clarinet? (Do R-13's dominate the key of A also?)
Just wondering.
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Author: Gene Wie
Date: 2001-03-21 10:22
1. Do you use the same or different mouthpieces for your Bb and A clarinets?
I use the same model of mouthpiece for both my instruments. More recently, I've been rather annoyed at my inability to yank my mouthpiece of one instrument and shove it into the other in the space of two bars rest and not tweak the reed/ligature setting in some fashion, so I made to sure get two nearly-identical mouthpieces for use on both of them (now I just have to find two good reeds =).
2. What is the mouthpiece/reed setup on your A clarinet?
I'm using a standard Vandoren 2RV, with Vandoren Regular or V12 strength 4 reeds, and a Rovner 1R-ED2 ligature.
3. What is the make and model of your A clarinet? (Do R-13's dominate the key of A also?)
I used to own a Leblanc LL1199S A Clarinet, but recently sold it because a longtime friend who quit playing years and years ago sent his R-13 A clarinet my way. The Leblanc was a superb instrument, but the R-13 A is so similar to my Bb I couldn't really justify staying with the Leblanc, while excellent (it was full boehm with extended range), just didn't play similarly enough to my R-13 Bb (and thus always took a minute to become acclimated to during an instrument change).
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Author: David Spiegelthal
Date: 2001-03-21 13:58
I have an unusual setup for orchestra: My Bb clarinet is an old wood Guy Humphrey with 7 rings and articulated G#; the "A" clarinet is a similarly old Guy Humphrey hard rubber clarinet (standard Boehm). I use the same mouthpiece (generally a crystal Pomarico #1, slightly refaced) on both. I am fortunate in that, unlike most "A" clarinets, mine is not at all stuffy -- in fact, it is possibly even freer-blowing than the Bb clarinet. This makes it very easy to switch between the two instruments. To keep the ligature and reed from shifting when I swap the mouthpiece back and forth, I tighten my Rovner ligature tighter than I normally would, and use liberal quantities of cork grease on the mouthpiece tenon.
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Author: larryb
Date: 2001-03-21 15:02
I have a Selmer Signature Bb and Selmer Recital A - don't ask me why (but I love them both for their tone, resistance, tuning qualities and their differences).
I use one mouthpiece/reed set up - Selmer C85/105 with Vandoren V12 #4 reeds. I've never tried using two mouthpieces, although I have two C85s - I'm mostly concerned that the reed on one would dry out while the other is being played.
My ligature does tend to slip when I switch - the mouthpiece sticks much more snuggly into the Bb. I've heard that you could switch barrels between the Signature and the Recital, but haven't tried that yet. That would eliminate the slipping reed problem.
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Author: Mario
Date: 2001-03-21 15:48
Two posts up, David just hinted at the real issue when switching from Bb to A. Typically, people have a set-up made of clarinets of the same model (say, two R-13). In general, the Bb is more free blowing then the A. So, a given set that works well for one will be less optimal for the other (set-up OK on Bb is resistent on A; set-up OK on A is brittle on Bb).
This extra-resistence on the A is most apparant for long-tube notes as usual. Staccato B-C-D can sometimes be difficult to articulate cleanly. Playing the Mozart Concerto light and bubbly with a fluid articulation in the low clarion is Grand Mastery. When you hear your favorite virtuoso, be humbled (especially since they now play this Concerto on basset clarinet which offer even more resistence).
When I have the time, I simply switch reeds with a stronger reed on Bb and weaker on A. If I don't have the time, I simply use the Bb set-up since resistence can be fixed temporarily by working a bit harder.
Another trick I use is to keep A pieces for later in my practice session or program. I use Legere reeds. They soften a bit after one hour of playing. A reed perfect for the Bb becomes perfect for the A in hour 2.
Next time I see Gregory Smith, I will see if buying a mouthpiece specifically for the A can improve my tone further. While I do not plan to have different models of mouthpieces (I want to keep the ergonomics consistent), I have the intuition that having a pair of mouthpieces of the same design but with slightly different instrinsic resistence could be a good idea. I will let you know.
By the way, I do not try to make my two clarinet equal in term of resistence. Instead, I have accepted that they are different instruments with different personalities and I do my best to exploit their differences. My A tends to be dark, melancolical, very pastoral; my Bb tends to be brilliant, showy, very veloce. Naturally, this simplistic view needs to be tailored to the music. The Brahms Sonatas for instance require a mood usually associated with the A (why Brahms didn't write them for the A is a mystery). Composers sometimes use the A and Bb for their instrinsic personality; others just worry about the key signature. The real artist will adapt his/her Bb or A to the music.
In my next post, I will argue as to why the A and Bb are a little bit different.
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Author: Mario
Date: 2001-03-21 16:17
Over the years, on this very board, this issue has been discussed a few times. There is no consensus on the subject since we can always find somebody out there who has an A that is brillant to the point of being thin, and a Bb that is dark to the point of being stuffy.
However, we can offer the following:
Usually, manufacturers create pairs of Bb/A with similar upper bore diameters, in order to enable the use of the same mouthpieces and even the same barrel on both. This facilitates switching between the two in a hurry.
However, the A is slightly longer. Since the upper bore remains the same, the relative bore becomes smaller, and the pressure waves behave slightly differently. In general, this creates A instrument with a bit more resistence and different intonation. This is also why fingerings that work well on one instruments might be less optimal on the other.
So, in a matched pair, the A is darker, more resistent, because the relative bore is smaller. Build an A without the constraints of matching it to a Bb set-up for mouthpiece and barrel, and you can get a A that sounds like a Bb.
Another good instance is the Basset Horn which can be played with a Bb mouth-piece. That means that the upper bore is minuscule compared to the length of the tube. Resistence is not futile here, and Basset Horn specialists eventually select an upper-body set-up independently of their Bb/A set-up (easier mouthpiece, easier reed, etc.). This is also why the Basset Horn sounds the way it does (very compact, very pure, very dark): long tube, small bore. Actually, a top-of-the-line A (or better, an excellent Basset Clarinet) sometimes sounds like a Basset Horn, especially in the low Chalumeau.
The next model up (The C clarinet) is very bright compared to the Bb. I am told that Luis Rossi is trying to create a C clarinet that would use Bb mouthpieces (a large bore C so to speak) while keeping the upper partial down and intonation right(a dark, well-tuned large bore C...). If he succeeds (and he very well might since Luis Rossi is a large bore specialist), imagine! By having a decent sounding C with normal mouthpiece, we can access a multitude of great pieces without transposing. Paradise!
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Author: William
Date: 2001-03-21 16:20
I use the same mouthpiece on both A and Bb. My clarinets are LeBlanc Concertos and the A is the better of the two (and much better than any R-13 A I have ever played). In passages where I have to switch very quickly from A to Bb, I simply use the A barrel on both instruments and switch the mp/barrel as one unit. Usually that is not necessary and my normal set-up is: Kaspar #14, V-12 3.5s, Optimun Lig. with parallel bars insert. On my A, I am using a Chadash 64.5mm barrel--on my Bb, I use the stock Bb barrel. That's my two cents worth, hope it helps. Good clarineting!!!!!
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Author: lande
Date: 2001-03-24 03:05
I use my J&D Hite mpc on both Bb & A clarinets. I use van dorn 2 1/2 reeds and a velcro ligature. (cheap and easy and good). At the moment, I am using Silva Bet metal clarinets. These horns have adjustible barrels. Interestingly, neither plays as well if I switch the barrels. The A barrel is slightly longer, but one can even them up using the adjustments. I will have to check see if I can measure a difference in barrel diameter. The A seems slightly darker, but since these are large bore instruments, neither seems at all stuffy.
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