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Author: earspasm
Date: 2014-06-15 06:28
Hey guys. Just saw all this here and I want to be clear about a few things. There is so much guessing, assumption, and, frankly armchair quarterbackery, that I need to interject a few facts.
Full disclosure: Yes, I am a Vandoren artist and have been for about 5 years. But I have played Vandoren reeds my entire 35-year playing life. Now I am in an arrangement with them. Does that mean that I sometimes get free stuff? Sure, yes it does. Would I use said stuff if it weren't free? In most cases, yes. In some no.
The biggest example: I not only use their B50 mouthpiece, it changed my opinion of "stock" mouthpieces forever. I have about 15 Selmer C* mouthpieces that were refaced by Everett Matson from the 1980s' through the late 1990s. I amassed them because I never wanted to be without one of those mouthpieces and I wanted a crap-ton of insurance that I would have one the rest of my life.
And then David Gould nagged me to try the B50 and I was amazed. Hooked. And now I recommend every student try one to see if it's right for them. Would I do that if I wasn't a Vandoren artist? You bet. It's that good.
Would I use their reeds if they weren't free? Yes.
Would I use a ligature of theirs if it wasn't free? That's debatable.
Do I use their bass clarinet/sax strap? Sometimes, though it's a bit too bulky for me. Do I recommend it? Yes, but I think it's kind of expensive.
Do I use their reed resurfacing stick thingy? Not often.
Oh, and for those curious, I did that Vandoren video in one take. They edited a bunch out, because I tend to ramble, as I'm doing here.
So, why do I make these snarky videos? Because I have an audience of 13-18 year olds (my largest audience segment according to Google Analytics) who are all just starting out on the instrument. They, and their parents, don't have a lot of money to spare. So I try to make videos that lay out my opinion that PRACTICING (hence all of the Rose Etude videos) and not GEAR (hence the "Gear Wars" videos of which the Ligature video was one) makes the difference.
Spending money unnecessarily is what I'm against. Not ligatures. And certainly not innovation from companies big and small who are trying to make the clarinet world better.
Other than that, I have no horse in this race. I'm not trying to sell anything for myself, Vandoren or anyone else. I'm not *NOT* trying to sell anything either.
Any other questions about my loyalties, my integrity, or anything else, hit me up. I love a good discussion.
Mike Lowenstern
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sdr |
2014-04-23 05:31 |
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fskelley |
2014-04-23 05:50 |
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ThatPerfectReed |
2014-04-23 07:08 |
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J. J. |
2014-04-23 07:34 |
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J. J. |
2014-04-23 07:41 |
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ThatPerfectReed |
2014-04-23 07:48 |
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TomS |
2014-04-23 08:01 |
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J. J. |
2014-04-23 08:09 |
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fskelley |
2014-04-23 09:05 |
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Tom Ridenour |
2014-04-23 09:59 |
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Paul Aviles |
2014-04-23 13:15 |
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Ed |
2014-04-23 16:24 |
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rtmyth |
2014-04-23 17:54 |
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ThatPerfectReed |
2014-04-23 18:02 |
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Ed |
2014-04-23 20:19 |
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Ursa |
2014-04-23 21:09 |
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Bob Barnhart |
2014-04-23 21:13 |
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Paul Aviles |
2014-04-23 21:14 |
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fskelley |
2014-04-23 23:08 |
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Paula S |
2014-04-23 23:19 |
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Paula S |
2014-04-23 23:20 |
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Paul Aviles |
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Ben Shaffer |
2014-04-24 02:22 |
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clarnibass |
2014-04-24 11:58 |
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Katfish |
2014-04-24 17:45 |
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ThatPerfectReed |
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Arnoldstang |
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BflatNH |
2014-04-24 18:50 |
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ThatPerfectReed |
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Sxplyer81 |
2014-04-24 21:15 |
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fskelley |
2014-04-24 19:23 |
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John Peacock |
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ThatPerfectReed |
2014-04-24 20:55 |
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BobD |
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ThatPerfectReed |
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Sxplyer81 |
2014-04-24 22:22 |
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Mark Charette |
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ThatPerfectReed |
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Johan H Nilsson |
2014-04-25 01:10 |
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ThatPerfectReed |
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fskelley |
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Mark Charette |
2014-04-25 02:49 |
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John Peacock |
2014-04-25 02:51 |
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Johan H Nilsson |
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Tom Ridenour |
2014-04-25 04:09 |
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Chetclarinet |
2014-04-26 22:21 |
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Bruno |
2014-04-25 20:10 |
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Barry Vincent |
2014-04-25 23:50 |
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earspasm |
2014-04-26 01:39 |
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ThatPerfectReed |
2014-04-26 21:03 |
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fskelley |
2014-04-26 21:52 |
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BflatNH |
2014-04-28 20:22 |
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Johan H Nilsson |
2014-05-09 04:17 |
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ThatPerfectReed |
2014-05-09 18:32 |
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Re: Think your ligature matters? new |
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earspasm |
2014-06-15 06:28 |
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Paul Aviles |
2014-05-09 22:22 |
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ThatPerfectReed |
2014-05-10 01:17 |
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Johan H Nilsson |
2014-05-10 02:54 |
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Paul Aviles |
2014-05-10 04:06 |
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ThatPerfectReed |
2014-05-10 06:18 |
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Paul Aviles |
2014-05-10 08:18 |
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Tom Ridenour |
2014-05-10 11:03 |
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Paul Aviles |
2014-05-10 17:24 |
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ThatPerfectReed |
2014-05-10 23:41 |
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Mark Charette |
2014-05-10 23:50 |
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Bruno |
2014-06-15 08:31 |
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earspasm |
2014-06-15 14:14 |
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Paul Aviles |
2014-06-15 15:13 |
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earspasm |
2014-06-16 07:03 |
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dibble |
2014-06-16 13:29 |
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Paul Aviles |
2014-06-16 16:15 |
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Bruno |
2014-06-16 20:24 |
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Paul Aviles |
2014-06-16 21:28 |
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MarlboroughMan |
2014-06-16 22:14 |
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afmdoclaw |
2014-06-17 01:32 |
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Klarnetisto |
2014-06-17 20:54 |
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Paul Aviles |
2014-06-17 23:43 |
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Klarnetisto |
2014-06-18 03:15 |
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Klarnetisto |
2014-06-18 03:27 |
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Paul Aviles |
2014-06-18 06:35 |
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david_macrae |
2014-06-20 08:41 |
The Clarinet BBoard
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