 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: clarinetxjackie
Date: 2015-02-21 06:28
Hello everyone! I would like some ideas for mouthpieces. Currently I am playing on a vandoren cl6 mouthpiece and I do like the evenness I get through the registers, but the intonation is very sharp around the throat tones even with all the venting that I do. I also have trouble projecting within an ensemble. I have a vandoren m13 lyre as well, but the altissimo feels very uncomfortable even though it plays better in tune. Any thoughts on mouthpieces outside of vandoren I could try? I hear great things about Clark Fobes. Help is appreciated!
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Author: nbclarinet
Date: 2015-02-21 06:33
I am currently playing on a mouthpiece made by Bradford Behn. He is a pleasure to work with and his mouthpieces are awesome. If you are willing to spend the money on a custom mouthpiece (such as Clark Fobes) you should at least check out his website or give him a call.
I will say that I have head good things about Fobes mouthpieces as well but I've had no personal experience with them. Both are worth investigating.
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Author: maxopf
Date: 2015-02-21 06:50
I'm playing a Clark Fobes CWF mouthpiece and I love it. It allows for a wider range of tone colors than any other mouthpiece I've tried, it's not uncomfortably resistant like some mouthpieces, and it projects really well. You could contact Clark Fobes over email and see what mouthpieces he recommends for you. He makes all of them by hand from Zinner blanks; I've visited his workshop and watched his process of testing and hand-adjusting them.
I've heard good things about the Behn mouthpieces that nbclarinet mentioned, but I have no experience with them.
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Author: WhitePlainsDave
Date: 2015-02-21 06:57
The CL6's at 1.135mm tip opening on a long facing.
http://www.vandoren-en.com/file/162039/
The M13 Lyre's at 1.02- on a medium long facing.
http://www.vandoren-en.com/file/162130/
I know you want to look outside the "V," but could we facing a "Goldy Locks, this porridge is too cold, this one to hot situation?"
I've played the CL6, I enjoy it, but the tip is such that I'm biting too hard, on othewise soft reeds, (that I don't want to go any lower in strength on) when I play for long periods.
I switched to the M15, at 1.035mm top opening and long facing, I found "porridge just the right temperature." It's more open than the M13Lyre, more closed than the CL6.
Maybe just splitting the distance on an M15 will help here. This isn't to say that Behn and Fobes don't make killer mouthpieces, just that they come at a price.
(Tip opening and facing length comprise only 2 of many mouthpiece attributes.)
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Author: seabreeze
Date: 2015-02-21 07:11
Talk to Behn about the models he presently offers and those he plans to release in the near future. He's always coming up with new ideas, which may include a model similar in price to what Fobes charges. Behn's mouthpieces tune and project very well. Fobes is good too.
Regarding the Vandoren Masters series, the CL line comes in the regular model which tends to be pitched high and the Series 13 models as well (they have the number 13 on the side so are easily recognizable.) The Series 13 CL models tend to play lower in pitch. I have a CL4 13 that I had refaced with an opening more like a Vandoren M13 lyre, and it plays very well in tune even in the throat register.
It is also possible that the CL6 is too open for you and you are pinching to control it, which could sharpen the pitch. I find even the CL4 too open (and a little too resistant) but when a mouthpiece tech works a little on the rails and baffle to decrease the resistance and closes the facing to something more managable, it plays like a charm with a really centered and characteristic clarinet sound.
Finally, you might want to hold off before spending a lot of money on an upscale mouthpiece, because (according to another thread currently running here) Vandoren is about to introduce a new clarinet mouthpiece that has impressed the few who have tried it.
Post Edited (2015-02-21 08:18)
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Author: NB
Date: 2015-02-21 07:52
For projecting in an ensemble Vandoren B40 or B40L works fine, with appropriately soft reeds, of course.
Those B's are "the Bombers" when it comes to sounding through other people's sound.
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2015-02-21 09:08
clarinetxjackie -
Projecting within an ensemble is more a matter of embouchure than mouthpiece.
To add energy and projection, stretch the point of your chin down, which makes your lower lip pad thinner and pulls it out until only half of the red part is over your teeth. This adds vibrancy and makes your sound penetrate through the ensemble.
Do it without the mouthpiece and looking in a mirror to see what's happening as you stretch.
I constantly adjust the stretch so that I can blend and project as necessary.
Ken Shaw
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Author: TomS
Date: 2015-02-21 20:21
I've been playing an M13 (not lyre) and M30-lyre (not 13 series) with Legere and Vandoren in various cuts and they have been doing well for me.
We don't seem to hear a lot about the Reserve mouthpieces anymore, but a week ago a friend loaned me his Reserve X5 (he didn't like it, in respect to his 5RV-lyre/88/13).
However, I am impressed. Warm and responsive with great tuning and even resistance. Plays very well with all Legere, blue box and V12s. Maybe a little thin in the top notes ... but I suspect the optimum reed cut will help in this area. Maybe some 56s or V21s ...
I like this MP so much than I'm ordering an X0 and X5. For only ninty bucks, it's a winner.
I have requirements that my MP has to work good with synthetics and commonly locally available cane reeds (Vandoren).
So, if Brad Behn is beyond your budget, I'd check one of these out in the meantime ...
Tom
Post Edited (2015-02-22 17:55)
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Author: tylerleecutts
Date: 2015-02-22 06:54
I wholeheartedly recommend the Reserve mouthpieces, particularly the X0 and the X5. For some reason, people either love or hate the X5, but I personally prefer the X0.
I was in a mouthpiece funk a while myself, and I finally found the X0 and I haven't played anything else since- which hasn't happened in a while.
Now, if you want something more open, try the M30 or X10. I tried the B40 Lyre and was having a bit of difficulty articulating on it, but its sound was fantastic.
Maybe changing up the reed choice will help your problems too.
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Author: clarinetxjackie
Date: 2015-02-26 11:19
Thank you all for the advice! I got a fobes san fransisco model as a gift and am extremely pleased with the sound Sorry Peter I had posted this on this forum the same day and time as the facebook post before I had seen your reply.
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