Author: WhitePlainsDave
Date: 2015-02-26 03:58
The M15 is an excellent mouthpiece as manufactured non-handmade boutique mouthpiece makers (not Behn, Fobes, etc.) go.
That sounded condescending towards the M15. Rephrase: the M15 is a great mouthpiece period, IMHO.
Also IMHO, I would hold off on getting one of Tom's mouthpieces right now if you have no particular issue with the M15, unless you were already dying to get one his mouthpieces anyway, and the combined offer of clarinet and mouthpiece is too good to pass up. This is not to take stabs at Tom's mouthpiece making ability...I'd love to try (before I'd buy) his Harold Wright model just for kicks sometime. Rather, this goes to the question of what, if anything, do you feel is lacking in your M15 that would lead you to try another [maker's] brand and or model?
Some say Ridenour clarinets don't blow as freely as what they are use to. Of course this depends upon what you're coming from. Again, this is not denegration of Tom's wares, but rather part of his design philosophy of a clarinet holding pitch, color and shape of tone. But sometimes players like a slightly more open mouthpiece on his wares to compensate for this perceived added resistance. Only you can determine if you concur with this feeling on the RCP horn: which I wish you well on and think you will not regret getting (i.e. love)--best clarinets for the dollar IMHO.
I am by no means implying you need the lungs of a deep sea SCUBAless diver. I own a Ridenour clarinet and love its sound (and I would say so if I didn't like it. I also own Buffet.)
(Disclaimer: The M15 is my predominate mouthpiece..to the extent that my advice may be biased. But I play many different mouthpieces, and would be fine to tell people of all the junk I've bought too. In other words I don't rave for products I own just to post-justify my spending to myself.)
"If it is recommended that I buy one of his mouthpieces, which ones should I look into?"
Let me take this approach.
The M15 is a http://www.vandoren-en.com/file/162130/
1.035mm tipped mouthpiece on a long facing. (Vandoren uses European notation, where the decimal point character is a comma. See bottom half of link.)
While MANY attributes determine how a mouthpiece plays (width and length of rails, materials of composition, YOU, curvature of rails, etc.) and can even work against each other (e.g. long rails counteracting a larger tip opening all other things equal), and a "long" facing, as this mouthpiece is, is a less than exact measurement......
the question becomes whether you are looking for a mouthpiece with similar qualities to the M15, assuming you're even in the market for a new mouthpiece.
Smart people may make cogent arguments that defend or refute some of the above on mouthpiece attributes.
(Use the search function at the top of this page to research what constitues small, medium and long facings.)
As you many know, the M15 is on the smaller range of tip openings, and, I think, a very good mouthpiece for all levels of players if not genres. Some believe wider tip opening mouthpieces are best left to jazz--if that's where you "cut your teeth" on the instrument.
Larger tip opening mouthpieces tend to use weaker strength reeds, and can allow players more flexibility, including enough flexibility for beginner players to "shoot themselves in the foot."
(I am "painting" with very broad strokes here, talking of mouthpieces. French classical players sometimes play B40s--an open mouthpiece, and I'll bet many jazz players a closed tip one.)
Another reason many of us might not suggest a new mouthpiece at this time is the "only change one aspect of your setup" at a time philosphy. No different than a scientist changes only 1 variable in a controlled experiment, smart clarinetists, I think, do this too so they can best assign change to the right cause.
(Of course there are exceptions to this rule. Buy a Vandoren Masters mouthpiece and if insist on playing a metal ligature, and you'll have to change ligatures (long story.) But ligature changes, for all some people assign to them, aren't near as influential as mouthpiece changes.)
This said, let's look at Tom's wares in case I haven't convinced you to hold off on getting another mouthpiece.
http://www.ridenourclarinetproducts.com/mouthpieces.htm
IMHO, Tom's midrange mouthpieces are not a marketplace you should be in, coming from an M15. Again--Tom makes great valued stuff, but I'd wager your M15 might already be better, and certainly, "the price is right," when making no purchase. Others who've used these mouthpieces may be able to speak to this far more adeptly than I can. I have not used any Ridenour mouthpieces, and wish to make that known.
As for his higher end wares go, Tom only publishers specs, from what I can see, on his RA and RZ models. (Other posters may know much more than I do about his Eroica and Wright model specs--and you can always ask Tom or Ted, or search the bboard for that information.)
From what I can extrapolate--and I admit this not precise, I'd guess your M15 falls somewhere between the 2, closer to the RA.
My desire to try the HW model is for giggles. I say this because I loved Harold Wright's sound, and would "get to fool myself for 2 seconds" that using a mouthpiece similar to his will make me sound like him, all the time knowing clear well that it's the player, first and foremost, who makes the sound that the mouthpiece only facilitates.
The paradox here is that to buy a mouthpiece with similar facing to your M15 might beg the question, "why are you switching mouthpieces," not that similar attribute mouthpieces of different makers can't play drastically different to the same player.
(More disclaimers. I preach that "gear doesn't make the clarinetist anywhere near the extent that etude books and metronomes do." While this may be true, I may also be biased by this philosophy. I am not gear-centric.)
What do YOU feel might be lacking in your M15 if anything? Our answers may vary, but if someone asked me that question I'd be most likely to answer "me."
Post Edited (2015-02-26 04:01)
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