 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: jthole
Date: 2016-03-06 13:43
Yesterday I was browsing the Dutch Craigslist equivalent, when I found an ad for a Portnoy mouthpiece. When looking at the description and the pictures, it was engraved with "V.KRASS", "K5F", and "BP02". So it looks like it's a Vytas Krass mouthpiece, made from a Portnoy blank, right? Or at least a Portnoy mouthpiece, refaced by Vytas Krass. The engravings looked pristine, and the mouthpiece looks undamaged (it was offered in a close-out sale from a music shop).
Since the mouthpiece was offered for €35, I decided to take a chance ... I'll know in a few days from now if I bought a gem or a dud ... at least it will allow me to brag that I played a Vytas Krass mouthpiece ;-)
Of course, since Portnoy is an American maker, I don't know if it will lower the pitch of my clarinets, compared to the Vandoren pieces I normally play. That would be a very good thing for my pretty sharp YCL-250 ... but not so good for my Buffets (E13 and Continentale) which are spot-on at A=442 with a Vandoren B45.
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2016-03-06 16:45
Hey "jthole,"
I am just curious. What is the pitch standard out there for you? Is it A=440 as we use in the US or is it a bit higher?
...............Paul Aviles
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Author: jthole
Date: 2016-03-06 19:15
Paul Aviles wrote:
>
> I am just curious. What is the pitch standard out there for
> you? Is it A=440 as we use in the US or is it a bit higher?
>
Concert bands here usually tune at 442 or 443. Big bands and jazz ensembles tend to use A=440.
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Author: cigleris
Date: 2016-03-06 19:44
Paul,
Generally mainland Europe play at 442 with higher pitches in Germany and Austria. The U.K. and Ireland on the other play at 440.
Peter Cigleris
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Author: tylerleecutts
Date: 2016-03-06 21:51
And not even all US groups play at 440. I'm interested to hear how the mouthpiece is!
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Author: Ursa
Date: 2016-03-06 23:22
My stock Portnoy BP01 tends to play slightly sharp. Jthole should be OK.
Here in Northern Michigan/Ontario, the only ensemble I've regularly performed with that held A=440 was the Sault Symphony Orchestra. Elsewhere in these parts, you'd better have a short barrel...
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Author: jthole
Date: 2016-03-10 23:56
Ursa wrote:
> My stock Portnoy BP01 tends to play slightly sharp. Jthole
> should be OK.
No pitch issues with the Portnoy BP02 indeed. But no pitch flattening on the Yamaha 250 as well.
What did surprise me is that I did not like the Portnoy better than my Vandoren B45 dot. I may have expected magic since it was professionally refaced ... and of course with my B45 dot, I selected the best among a number of mouthpieces. I've tried them together now for two days in my practice routine, and I cannot really say which one I prefer. They have a very similar openness and resistance. The Vandoren is slightly darker than the Portnoy, but there's not much difference.
That is, with a cane reed. The Legere reed in my rotation definitely works better with the Vandoren mouthpiece.
So the Portnoy / Krass is a good mouthpiece, and I am not sending it back. It will go fine with my Yamaha backup clarinet. But it's not the wonder mouthpiece that I secretly expected either ;-)
Post Edited (2016-03-11 00:03)
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2016-03-11 00:12
As a general observation (not specifically about this mouthpiece), since IMO the facing curve has by far the greatest effect on the playing qualities of the mouthpiece - more than the material, or the interior shape and dimensions - a refaced mouthpiece is, again in my opinion, more a product of the refacer than of the original mouthpiece maker.
In other words, a Vytas Krass-refaced mouthpiece is a "V. Krass", regardless of whether the 'blank' (or donor mouthpiece) was originally a Portnoy, a Bundy, a Zinner "blank", a Pomarico crystal, etc.
You can give a good refacer any mouthpiece you like, regardless of material or original maker, and he/she should be able to provide you with a mouthpiece that plays very similarly to any other mouthpiece refaced by that individual.
Other than the facing curve, the internal volume (more or less independent of shape) of the mouthpiece is a significant parameter, but mostly in its effect on overall pitch and relative sharpness or flatness of the throat tones or high clarion notes.
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