 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Tony Pay ★2017
Date: 2016-04-30 02:43
To those of you who use rubber patches on the top of the mouthpiece: try putting the patch at varying distances from the tip.
Notice, I'm not saying that I endorse a particular position – or that someone like, say, Kal Opperman would have endorsed a particular position according to anyone here – or indeed saying that he even had an opinion on the use of one, playing double lip as he might well have done – or not, I can't remember.
Tony
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Author: seabreeze
Date: 2016-04-30 03:30
I'll have to try that. I have noticed that varying the thicknesses of the patch can make a big difference. I used to dread having to play in perfectly dead acoustics, such as cork-floored recording studios and heavily curtained stages and rooms. I found that playing with two patches, one placed over the other, dampens the sound enough to simulate such dead spaces. Practicing with the double patch at home revealed a few ways to adjust the reed and ligature and alter the voicing enough for me to learn to sound tolerably well playing in the actual dead spaces.
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Author: maxopf
Date: 2016-04-30 03:52
At the Tanglewood clarinet workshop last summer, professor Ethan Sloane urged us to put our mouthpiece patches further down, so that the top of the patch is lower than the tip rail. He argued that this greatly increased the response when articulating. I was dubious at first, but it really did seem to make a noticeable difference, and I have kept my mouthpiece patch lower down ever since.
Post Edited (2016-04-30 03:54)
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Author: seabreeze
Date: 2016-04-30 04:06
I checked the 7 mouthpieces I play on (including the Behn, which is the main one), and it turns out that the patches on all of them are at least 2 mm. below the tip rail, though I have never given any thought to their placement. Maybe some beneficient non-economic "unseen hand" is guiding them there! I'll have to move a few of them closer to the tip to see exactly what that changes or messes up (fast articulation?)
Post Edited (2016-04-30 05:36)
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Author: TomS
Date: 2016-04-30 06:46
Tom Ridenour has a video called "A Patchwork Orange" that has some interesting info about MP patches ...
Tom
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Author: ned
Date: 2016-04-30 12:57
I had no idea that the use of patches was so widespread amongst the classical fraternity. In jazz circles, as I understand, they are not widely used at all. Other jazz players should kindly correct me if this is not the case.
I have only recently started experimenting with a patch on one of my mouthpieces (the Meyer #8). It's just an experiment in sound really and I will not reach any conclusions until I experiment with my Meyer #9.
To perfectly candid, I don't REALLY know what I'm doing it for. I was thinking initially, that a top lip cushion would be desirable, and now the Ridenour video is suggesting that a patch (or two) will enhance the sound, or at least, the airflow and, I guess, the ultimate sound thereto.
I imagine it will depend on the shape of my mouth as to the eventual type of sound I achieve with a patch (or two - yes - I'll try two at sometime) and ultimately whether I continue the use of patches.
P.S. One has to be fairly particular with the cleaning of the MP subsequent to playing with a patch, I have found, as tiny pieces of mouth flotsam tend to remain at the edges of the patch, where it connects to the MP itself.
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2016-04-30 13:01
I just want to throw kudos out there for the clever name of the thread. "Tip tip"! Well done!
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2016-04-30 16:05
Tony -
Kalmen Opperman played double lip and did not use a patch.
Excellent advice for single-lip players.
Ken Shaw
Post Edited (2016-04-30 16:07)
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Author: ned
Date: 2016-04-30 16:25
The person who posts the best tip will, of course, receive the Top Tip Tip award.
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Author: donald
Date: 2016-04-30 17:03
I have found that putting on the patch with the adhesive side up gives me a real feeling of security with my embouchure, and improves my articulation
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2016-04-30 19:32
I basically use patches to cut down on the wear to the top of the mouthpiece. It can help keep the mouthpiece locked in place a bit because teeth-on-beak can slide a bit.
But when applying a patch I do ensure it is at least 2mm from the tip. To me, it seems there is a bit of "interference" set up with the air flow if the leading edge of the patch is right over the tip rail.
And for any old folks from Chicago: Who can forget the ballroom at the top floor of the Allerton Hotel - "The Tip Top Tap."
...................Paul Aviles
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Author: Wes
Date: 2016-05-01 00:12
Thin clear patches fairly near the tip are my preference. I cut the available patch in one half before peeling off the backing, making two patches, both with rounded corners. Not much of the mouthpiece area is thus covered by these patches, not dulling the sound. They are useful for all clarinets and all saxophones, regardless of the style of music played. If one played only with both lips, a patch would seem to be unnecessary.
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Author: TomS
Date: 2016-05-01 02:15
I often play Vandoren 5RV-lyre MPs ... (sorry, I like them ...). I have profile 88s and "regular" versions (all of them, non-13 series). The 88s generally play with less resistance than the "regular" versions and they also have a warmer, rounder and more free flowing quality to them. If I add another thickness/layer of patch or cushion to the 88s, they start playing and sounding more like the "regular" ones ... more resistance and more edge. I also have a tendency to leak air around the corners with really thick MP cushions ...
My three cents ...
Tom
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Author: Tony Pay ★2017
Date: 2016-05-03 18:51
What, trying it?…or just reading the thread?
BTW, I'd like to know which is the
product you endorse, in case I might find myself equally satisfied…
Tony
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2016-05-03 23:22
Everyone does it differently.
McGill at Juiliard for a player friend of mine who studies there with him had her go higher up on the mouthpiece and it worked really well for her.
Ricardo does not like it too low either.
Your mileage will vary too!
http://www.SkypeClarinetLessons.com
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Author: Liquorice
Date: 2016-05-04 00:56
Trying it out, obviously. It made no difference, so I suspected that your post was a joke.
If it isn't a joke, then perhaps you could let me know what it is that you perceive the be the difference?
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Author: Tony Pay ★2017
Date: 2016-05-04 13:11
>> Trying it out, obviously. It made no difference, so I suspected that your post was a joke.>>
Well, SOME of it was: namely the bit about the tendency of some people to want an 'authority' endorsement to back up their choices in this sort of matter. And indeed, that's what we got, you notice: Yehuda Gilad vs Tom Ridenour. I didn't know that the idea had been discussed elsewhere when I made my post.
>> If it isn't a joke, then perhaps you could let me know what it is that you perceive the be the difference?>>
I didn't want to do that, because you can so easily find out for yourself. But in my case, (currently playing the Mozart concerto with a German type mouthpiece and reed on my period basset clarinet reconstruction) I did find that the position of the pad made a difference to the sound and response.
It may be that that sort of setup, together with the quirky nature of the instrument itself, is more sensitive to little adjustments. That could explain the fact that you didn't find a significant effect on your (presumably modern) instrument.
Tony
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Author: Dan Oberlin ★2017
Date: 2016-05-05 17:18
I'd always put the patch very close to the top of the mouthpiece. Moving it down, as Tony suggested trying, does seem to improve the response when tonguing above the break. The sound in the clarion register also seems, to my ear and also listening to a recording, to be a little more focused.
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