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6 weeks with a Behn Vintage II

Author: Sylvain
Date: 2013-10-29 21:14

Dear Board,

I haven't been posting on the board much lately, but I thought some of you might be interested in my experience with Brad Behn's latest greatest. I have been playing for 30 years, will never pay the bills with my playing, but get the occasional gig and play a lot of orchestral, wind ensemble and opera pit music.

I had the pleasure of hosting Brad at my house for a day of mouthpiece nerdiness and ended up purchasing one of his latest Vintage model, even though I initially only wanted him to touch up my Vandorens. I think it is the "W" model, a close tip, small chambered Chedeville inspired design.

I did some A/B testing with my wife (a flutist) listening. I play tested a Rico X0, two M13 Lyres and two Behns. My wife consistently picked the Behns as the mouthpieces with the most depth and resonance. My wife was impressed enough to encourage me to purchase the new mouthpiece!
The two Behn finalists were a little different and I went for the slightly more resistant one.

I wouldn't necessarily recommend it as the best mouthpiece to play Rhapsody in Blue, but for the kind of playing I do (late 18th to early 20th century orchestral and operatic repertoire), it has proven extremely reliable with intonation, quite flexible in its color palette and with a nice dynamic range. It is not the loudest mouthpiece I have played, but can project quite well over a 70 piece orchestra (I just played Till Eulenspiegel this past week end).

After six weeks of almost daily usage, perhaps the most rewarding experience for me has been the "hold". I have been able to put more air in the mouthpiece without having my sound spread or go too flat and I can shade the upper clarion a little better than I used to. It has allowed me to extend my dynamic range while keeping my sound "in check". My wife was impressed enough to encourage me to purchase the new mouthpiece!

Finally, Brad was a real pleasure to work with, never condescending to the average player that I am, but confident in his ability to help me find something more to my liking. He took a lot more time with me than he should have given his busy schedule.

About me and my mouthpieces:
I have no disclaimer to make, just a happy customer.
I have played many versions of Vandorens (M15 and M13 Lyre are my favorites), fell quickly out of love with the Rico X0, never found a Zinner blank based mouthpiece that I liked, grew up playing a Selmer C85-115 (SHARP!!), and tried to convince myself a Chadash Hill was right for me but couldn't make it work.
I play RC clarinets.

--
Sylvain Bouix <sbouix@gmail.com>

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Re: 6 weeks with a Behn Vintage II

Author: donald
Date: 2013-10-30 08:59

Brad is a fine gent, no doubt about it. AND he knows what he's on about.

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