 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: MoonPatrol
Date: 2013-04-19 16:37
My mouthpiece is now a Vandoren M30, and before that it was the M13, and the Gigliotti P34. I have used a Ridenour but don't know the model, and have a B45 that I'm not using. The M30 has the best tip opening and facing for me right now with a Rico GCS 3.5, but I just don't like the sound from my Vandoren. SO I'm using that geometry to search for a new mouthpiece and has anyone heard of the Jody jazz #3? I may like it just because its deep-red color, but I really want to get an easy blowing piece that can take a hard reed so I can sail in the altissimo and not get dizzy everywhere else. I played a lot with the Giliottti with a #3 Rico GCS, and it is too soft a reed, but that is a stuffy mouthpiece! I like the sound I got with my Ridenour, kind of bright, but still even. I just can't get a hard reed to work with the Ridenour or the Gigliotti. I am safe with the M30 and can survive a while, but still don't like my bony treble sound and need to evolve.
Post Edited (2013-04-19 16:44)
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Author: kdk
Date: 2013-04-19 16:49
You seem already to have decided what you're looking for, but you may need just to try mouthpieces for yourself. It's a little confusing, at least to me, when you describe the P34 as "stuffy" and write about using a hard reed on an M30 - I'm not really sure what you're really looking for. Getting dizzy everywhere below the altissimo notes is further confounding, especially if you were using #3 Ricos on a P34. What were you using on the M13?
You might consider re-thinking some of what you're doing above the mouthpiece. Especially why you're getting dizzy on easy-blowing setups (P34 and M13) with medium (#3 Rico) reeds.
Maybe tell us more.
Karl
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Author: MoonPatrol
Date: 2013-04-19 17:05
I only get dizzy blowing the 3.5's, so I can handle a #3 on the Gigliotti P34 and the M13 but just don't feel secure up in the altissimo. I prefer to blow a passage in one breath over the security of a hard reed, so I have to find a mouthpiece that is easy blowing and does this with a 3.5. The 3's don't cut it for me with the notes above D#. So far the M30 is the best answer and I have used it in the past. I just don't like the sound. I'm thinking of putting a better rubber cushion on it, and my other ligatures, like you said. I need to re-cork the M30 so it fits my buffet barel tighter but now It fits the Ridenour barrel snug so I use that.
I lean against another trip to the repair guy just for a mouthpiece cork!
I have not chosen a mouthpiece yet, the jazz jody just looked bright but I want a dark sound with personality if that makes sense.
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2013-04-19 18:03
Your mouthpiece history is similar to mine. I tend to like M15, M13, M30, I've used a Gigliotti P (not the P34).
I feel very comfortable with a Rico Reserve X0 and a 3.5 reed. If you prefer the M30, you could also try the Rico Reserve X5 with a 3 reed. The ones I've tried have been very consistent from mouthpiece to mouthpiece, the cost is cheap, and they play very well. Notes sound good and full to me. Worth trying in my opinion.
I too prefer a slightly softer reed, and the 3.5 matches well with the X0 (which probably COULD use a 4, but I prefer a soft reed for easier blowing as you put it), and I think a 3 would be good on the X5.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: kdk
Date: 2013-04-19 18:06
I'm still not really sure what you're looking for.
MoonPatrol wrote:
> I only get dizzy blowing the 3.5's, so I can handle a #3 on the
> Gigliotti P34 and the M13 but just don't feel secure up in the
> altissimo.
This is almost certainly a problem of technique (or a mechanical problem with the clarinet) rather than mouthpiece response, given the specific mouthpieces you're talking about. First, even a #3.5 V12 (which is stiffer than a Rico regular), is at the light end of the normal range for a P34 or an M13. But, second, I guess I'm stuck on the whole "dizzy" idea. The only time I get dizzy playing a wind instrument is when I try to play a flute (I'm really incompetent), but that's an issue of wasted air. Is that what you feel is happening when you play a #3-1/2 Rico on an M13?
> I prefer to blow a passage in one breath over the
> security of a hard reed,
Here, I'm not sure what you mean by "security." If the harder reed feels more secure, it seems like it would be the more appropriate strength, but, again, how to explain the dizziness?
> so I have to find a mouthpiece that is
> easy blowing and does this with a 3.5. The 3's don't cut it for
> me with the notes above D#.
This is, IMO, the wrong approach. There's really nothing especially unique about a #3-1/2 as compared to a #3 or a #3-3/4 or a #4, especially when you throw differences among the cuts of various brands and models into the discussion (which often happens here). For me, (I guess others' experience may be different) you match the reed to the mouthpiece, not the mouthpiece to a particular strength of a particular brand/model of reed. If a mouthpiece does everything you want it to do (in my experience an unattainable standard), but it plays best with a #2 JazzenSympho reed, that trumps playing on a mouthpiece that misses the ideal simply because its favorite strength is a #3-1/2 Rico.
> So far the M30 is the best answer
> and I have used it in the past. I just don't like the sound.
If the M30 *feels* good, your best bet may be to stick with it and see what you can adjust in your technique to make the altissimo as secure as possible. Also, make sure you're not fighting a leaky clarinet. It may well be that your comfort level with the sound will grow as you get more secure with it. It bears repeating - and is repeated often here - that the mouthpiece, reed and clarinet (not to mention the barrel and the bell) may influence the potential sound to a degree, but the basic sound you produce comes from your technical approach and, to an extent, from your physical characteristics. Often the subtle differences between different pieces of equipment turn out to go no further than the player's ear, and comfort becomes a more important consideration.
> I'm thinking of putting a better rubber cushion on it, and my
> other ligatures, like you said. I need to re-cork the M30 so it
> fits my buffet barel tighter but now It fits the Ridenour
> barrel snug so I use that.
> I lean against another trip to the repair guy just for a
> mouthpiece cork!
The ligature and barrel can affect the resistance you feel when you play. You could wrap teflon tape or sewing thread around the cork to snug up the fit in the Buffet barrel, if you think using that barrel will help. Once you decide which barrel you want to use, you could either keep the wrap you've used or have the cork replaced then (or learn to replace the cork yourself).
Mouthpiece patches help isolate your teeth from the mouthpiece so you hear more through the air and less by bone conduction, so your *perception* of the sound may change with a different patch.
> I have not chosen a mouthpiece yet, the jazz jody just looked
> bright but I want a dark sound with personality if that makes
> sense.
For some of us, that makes the least sense of all - look up all the discussions about what "dark" means as a sound descriptor and you'll see what a divisive and unclear term it is. The sound you want needs to be in your ear, and if it is, the descriptors you use for it are irrelevant.
Karl
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Author: clarinetguy ★2017
Date: 2013-04-19 23:15
The others have given you good advice. Still, if you decide to investigate other mouthpieces, I'd suggest the Gennusa Excellente. I really like my GE*, but you might prefer the GE (more closed) or the GE** (more open). It has a nice sound, it's reed-friendly, and it's fairly easy-blowing.
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Author: MoonPatrol
Date: 2013-04-22 15:41
Looks like a Rico GCS reed #3 and the M30 is the only way I'm going to survive the next month playing. Until I get a new mouthpiece and the extra budget for one that is. I ordered some reeds last week and hope everything is fine.
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Author: MoonPatrol
Date: 2013-04-24 17:50
I've been playing with 3.5 Rico GCS on my M30 and it is working fine, just a little resistant on the long passages but not impossible. I hope the new reeds are not too soft, and the thick mouthpiece cushion should turn my Jeep into a Mercedes. My band's rehearsal hall is so loud, we need a solution such as sound baffles to stop the bouncing. Its hard to get players to play soft especially brass, but that is the situation at hand. I am thinking about donating a new 9 foot by 4 strip of carpet to lay down in the hall that I already own. Would that help ?
Post Edited (2013-04-24 17:54)
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