 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Meri
Date: 2001-04-02 20:33
I didn't think the following idea, which prevented my mouthpiece from getting chipped would ever save me, but it did.
Here it goes:
Take a regular mouthpiece cap (metal or plastic) and put it as usual over the mouthpiece, with a preferably junk metal ligature. Now, take a hair elastic, the type for ponytails, the ones about 1/8" thick, double it, and place it so that it is between the two screws of the ligature.
How did this idea save my mouthpiece? When setting up for my college band's concert yesterday, my mouthpiece was resting on the table--with the elastic, ligature, and mouthpiece cap, when it fell. There was no damage to the mouthpiece. If there wasn't, I might have chipped it.
Considering how much it is possible to spend on a mouthpiece, it is worth protecting it.
Meri
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Author: Anji
Date: 2001-04-03 00:23
My teacher has me take mine off the horn, barrel attached when not playing.
It fits neatly in a pocket (preferably not a seat pocket) and people seem to think I'm extra friendly when I do this.
anji
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Author: Bart Hendrix
Date: 2001-04-03 01:13
As an avid photographer, dealing with cameras in the same price range as a good clarinet, I was always taught to never take my hand off my camera farther above the floor than I was willing to let it fall in the event it got knocked off its perch. I apply the same rule to my horn and mouthpiece. However, judging from past discussions about such things as damage done when a horn falls off a music stand, your idea sounds like it may be a good one for some.
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Author: Jim
Date: 2001-04-03 03:59
If you take the mouthpiece and barrel off, doesn't that make the tenon on the upper joint the possible impact point?
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Author: Anji
Date: 2001-04-03 12:45
Only if you are carrying the horn around by the bell.
A cheapo peg stand is perhaps warranted in any case (with the mouthpiece cover attached, of course).
anji
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Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2001-04-03 14:20
I treat my mouthpiece as a separate entity than the rest of the clarinet - with a lot more care. I have designed a custom padded valour, draw string pouch that I put it into after playing and rinsing it out and drying. This pouch just calls to my attention the special fragile nature of the MP and I think when I remove it and place it on the horn to be sure that the whole instrument is in a safe and stable place. Accidents will happen but far fewer if you think and treat the mouthpiece as a special fragile part.
The Doctor
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Author: Cass
Date: 2001-04-04 12:37
Meri, thank you for a really good idea, cheap and simple! I just bought a B-45 mpc that I had to save up for, so this is timely advice. I think the pouch is a good idea too but there is no room in my case for that or much else. Maybe a better case is next. Then a better clarinet. Then the moon.... ;-)
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Author: Meri
Date: 2001-04-04 21:50
Bart:
You'd be surprised at how hard it is to get players to not rest their instrument on the music stand, and especially how hard it is to get them to use a clarinet stand. (only one other player in my college band uses one.) Especially given all the advantages of using a good one.
Jim:
Then you simply make the mouthpiece cap much longer, so that the tenon joint will not be an impact point, but rather the bottom of the mouthpiece cap.
Omar:
I would worry about disgusting things growing inside a mouthpiece pouch, which would be far easier to clean using a cap.
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Author: Laurie
Date: 2001-04-04 21:50
Yeah... I just got a new R13 and I hate the bigger cases - All the things fly around the case !! lol.
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Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2001-04-05 12:26
Dear Meri,
You have to realize what a structured, AR kind of guy I am - probably not good for the blood pressure. After playing I rinse out the MP in a stream of luke warm tap water, blow out the excess water and let it dry while I clean up the rest of the horn and wipe off the keys with a silk scarf. I then check to see that the inside of the MP is dry and wipe off the outside with a silk scarf before putting it into the padded pouch which also has a silica gel dessicant pack in a small separate compartment in the pouch which does not allow it to come in direct contact with the MP (my own special design). The pouch gets washed at regular intervals in mild quilt detergent. Again, this is what I do and is probably way to cumbersome for many-most players.
The Doctor
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