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 Tone and Austrian Style? (Clarinet)
Author: MillerMile 
Date:   2016-05-08 18:19

Hey,

I want to know what Austrian Style is in relation to German style since there seems to be nothing online about Austrian. There must be a difference since vandorens sells Austrian and German mouthpieces/reeds separately. Most of all I want to know whether the Austrian reeds (roughle 0.85mm/L to VL facing) would make a more ROUND, DARK tone than the German reeds (a little more open/ a little shorter facing).

My ultimate goal is to get a very dark round tone, and would appreciate any MP, Reed, and ligature combos that are recommended. I am more looking into getting German/Austrian mouthpieces and reeds and tying them on with string, but don't know which type is better. I plan on playing on a French system clarinet using this mouthpiece setup.

Thanks for all the help!

Josh

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 Re: Tone and Austrian Style? (Clarinet)
Author: Chris P 
Date:   2016-05-08 18:55

Have a listen to recordings of Leopold Wlach for the classic Austrian/Vienna sound.

Or for a real classic German clarinet sound, listen to recordings of Dieter Klocker.

Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010

The opinions I express are my own.

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 Re: Tone and Austrian Style? (Clarinet)
Author: Paul Aviles 
Date:   2016-05-08 21:19

There is an AWFUL lot of information on this but I think getting into the weeds is not the point of where you are going.


First, it is much less about the actual equipment (well.....) than the approach. I learned very late (only about six months ago) that a traditional German/Austrian approach is to use very narrow and long facings with very soft reeds. One pretty much just "blows" into the horn without much effort at all.


I would say hands down, your best bet, being a Boehm player, is to try a Viotto N1 mouthpiece (pitch is no problem; fitting is no problem as long as Bas DeJong knows you're a Boehm player) with a 2 1/2 Vandoren White Master reed. You'll experience a whole new world of playing and get much closer to the ideal sound you are looking for.


Some of the differences between the Austrian and German sound are that the Austrian clarinets tend to have larger bores and the Austrian players do tend toward sounds with less overtones.


Anyway, start with Bas and the Viotto mouthpiece and see where you want to go from there.


Oh, and one other fact that makes this soooo confusing is that the Berlin Philharmonic is clearly a German orchestra and yet all their current clarinetists are Austrian........go figure.



\



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



Post Edited (2016-05-08 21:21)

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 Re: Tone and Austrian Style? (Clarinet)
Author: Ken Shaw 2017
Date:   2016-05-08 23:17

The Vienna Philharmonic plays at A-444, and often higher. This makes a significant difference in the woodwind tones.

You need to make your own sound on your own equipment. I once turned on the radio and heard what I was sure was a German player, with the distinctive round, creamy sound. It was Marcellus with Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra.

Your clarinet and mouthpiece will make more sounds than you imagine. It's 10% equipment and 90% you. Listen to the great players and learn to do what it takes to sound more like them.

Ken Shaw

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 Re: Tone and Austrian Style? (Clarinet)
Author: Klose 2017
Date:   2016-05-09 15:35

Paul, only two principal clarinetists of Berliner Philharmoniker are Austrian. Other three are all Germans.

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 Re: Tone and Austrian Style? (Clarinet)
Author: babrinka77 
Date:   2016-05-10 09:46

Hello Josh,
If you want to aproach to the austrian sound, as Paul says in his post, you can contact a mouthpiece maker and ask for an Austrian mouthpiece for a Boehm clarinet. I know for sure that Viotto, Leittner&Krauss, PlayNick and Nagamatsu would make you this mouthpiece,and the combination works.
You will need to make some changes in your embrochure, but it wont be hard to get used to it.
I play a Playeasy D2 (german mouthpiece) on my Buffet clarinet and im very happy, i also tried a Playeasy B (Austrian mouthpiece) wich should work with a 3 1/2 to a 3 3/4 Legere reed but it was a too close mouthpiece (this strengh is a very hard reed in German/Austrian faces) and didn't feel confortable, but the sound is very, very dark.
So just contact mouthpiece makers and try, and good luck!!!

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