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Proper Alignment of the Mouthpiece

Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2016-05-04 16:00

I know this sounds pretty mundane. Most of us stick the mouthpiece on, sorta align it with the register key and move on.

But is that it?

Within the last ten years I was having some issues with moisture flowing out the last two side keys. To address it I thought it may be a good idea to "tilt" the clarinet more in the other direction to help keep that issue down. So I assumed clamping the mouthpiece in my embouchure was enough to determine the attitude of the horn and rotated the mouthpiece that it was more at the 7 o'clock position (if the register key is 6 that is). And this sorta worked as I "clamped" down on the reed/mouthpiece.

Fast forward to today as I use a MUCH less "active" embouchure and Legere reeds. There is no clamping. I looked at myself in the mirror as I was working a fingering issue and noticed the logo centered on my mouthpiece was off to the side......hmmmm.

So now that I use a much more subtle embouchure there is nothing to truly hold the mouthpiece "flat" in between my teeth. The attitude of the clarinet under these circumstances is determined by how it is held in the right hand, and how you hold your arm (elbows out...clarinet rotates counterclockwise; elbows in.....clarinet rotates clockwise).

What's the difference?

Those who use Legere, know how critical the placement is on the facing (not an issue for me - I have always been anal retentive about that). But having an even "pressure" across the bottom lip IS ALSO important to gain the best sound advantage.

Once I ensured that the mouthpiece's rotational position represented a perfectly flat attitude for the reed/mouthpiece in my mouth, the sound opened up a lot and the response became far more precise.

BUT, my mouthpiece position is more akin to 5:30 on the clock (and that is, again, specific to how I hold my horn).

So in summary I would say the best way to ensure you maximize the response of your reed is to make sure it is sitting as horizontal to your face as possible.

The best way to do that, is to hold your clarinet in front of you as comfortably an
naturally as you can (try not to think about it) and without putting in your mouth, bring it up as if you were about to play and just look at the tip opening. If the the tip opening is not horizontal to your face, turn the mouthpiece so that it is.

This makes a difference.

...................Paul Aviles

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