Author: Ulrich
Date: 2014-12-02 18:22
Hi,
my name is Ulrich, living as a professional bass clarinetist and composer in Vienna/Austria.
For about the last twenty years I've searched for the right bass clarinet mouthpieces for getting a little closer to my idea of sound on the instrument. In my own musical projects I love to play the bass clarinet very soft with a focus on the 3rd, 4th and 5th octave which often brings the instrument, the mouthpiece the reed and of course myself to the limits.
With "Selmer" Privilège bass clarinets I found for my needs the right instruments, with "Blashaus" heavy brass and "Gloger" solid silver necks, with "Morrie Backun" wooden bells the right extensions but I never found a mouthpiece which satisfied me completely (and with different Vadoren, Selmer, Pomarico, Fobes, Backun etc. mouthpieces I've tested a lot).
By chance I discovered last spring Bradford Behn's website and found there a completely unique way in producing mouthpieces. Before starting the work on my personal mouthpiece Brad Behn asked me a lot of questions about my setup, the lineups of my bands, the styles of music I'm playing, the way I'm playing, which venues I play etc. etc. which was totally new for me.
He made a mouthpiece for me which is a real quantum shift!!! With about 1.92 it has a medium large tip opening. The sound is beautiful warm, round, full and centered and focused at the same time. A real rare balance. You can play it with very few effort, very easy which gives you the opportunity to creat your sound , also with harder reeds (3,5 to 4). With reeds that are not the best the sound is much better than on most of the mouthpieces I've played before, the intonation as well.
This is by far the best mouthpiece I've ever played. It's a wonderful example of high level craftsmanship. Ok, the price is also unique but it's more than worth every cent.
Uli
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The Clarinet BBoard
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