 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: Bill
Date: 2016-06-23 02:19
I don't reface mpcs, despite an attempt to teach myself. But I play on mpcs with facings by various people, and I can 'feel' how they are and what sort of reed they require. I have many mpcs (too many), refaced by a handful of different specialists.
Some mpcs that I own I have difficulty warming to. What I enjoy are mpcs with nice resistance and a curve that somehow compresses or frees the reed in ways that produce color and what I like to call a good "ring." Those that find difficult to love seem to have in common a lack of resistance, like a show jumping course with no fences. The reed is never challenged or compressed, and the tone is straightforward and colorless with the reeds that work well on my favorite mpcs.
Today I spent some time trying to break the code of these facings, trying to find the sort of reed that will make them play to my satisfaction, or close enough. I discovered what was needed was a reed with lots of guts up near the tip, where the facing seems to just flare away toward the tip without a good set of barriers. My favorite reed strength is 3.25 (Gonzalez regular cut), but I need Gonzalez FOF 3.75 or 4 for these mpcs. Even regular Vandoren #4 sound too free-blowing and lackluster on them.
Just thought it was interesting. Everyone has their own idea of what sounds good. I dislike too thin or straightforward a sound.
Bill Fogle
Ellsworth, Maine
(formerly Washington, DC)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Ed
Date: 2016-06-23 05:45
Often you will find that different mouthpieces may require a completely different reed to reach full potential. Even with the same facing, other factors in interior dimensions, difference in the rails or other will make it blow very differently.
Years back I recall a mouthpiece that I bought from a well know maker. There was something in the sound that attracted me, but it always seemed a little thin. One day I decided to try it with some brand new reeds that I would work up to match. I was blown away by how great a mouthpiece this was and ended up using it for quite some time.
I realized that previously I was trying it with reeds that had been adjusted to match a different mouthpiece, but did not fit this one.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Mojo
Date: 2016-06-23 17:19
No code breaking here. Just matching up reeds to match achieve your goals.
MojoMP.com
Mojo Mouthpiece Work LLC
MojoMouthpieceWork@yahoo.com
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Bill
Date: 2016-06-25 03:22
Mojo wrote:
> No code breaking here. Just matching up reeds to match achieve
> your goals.
>
Right! I was just pumping a little extra prose into it, there. Nice website, Mojo Mouthpieces!
Bill Fogle
Ellsworth, Maine
(formerly Washington, DC)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: WhitePlainsDave
Date: 2016-06-25 05:09
Ok Bill--here is the code.
All other things equal, the reeds that most players find work best on a particular mouthpiece follow these rules.
The side rails have different curvatures from one mouthpiece to the next--even sometimes ever so slightly between the right and left rails of a mouthpiece.
Where they curve, how steeply they curve, with what angles, in what places, and at what rates tend to find players using weaker reeds on mouthpieces whose tips are more open because of these curvatures.
Rails have different thicknesses. All else equal, thicker rail mouthpieces will require weaker reeds because for any rail curve, the thicker the rails, the more of the reed comes in contact with the rails, until of course at the point where the rail curvature distances itself from the reed, which is itself dependent on embouchure strength.
While you may be able to achieve your desired ring better with certain mouthpieces, your sound comes first and foremost from you, and is affected by the mouthpiece.
"I discovered what was needed was a reed with lots of guts up near the tip, where the facing seems to just flare away toward the tip without a good set of barriers"
Interesting--your seem to find results in using more resistant reeds with large tip openings. It's all about what works or you, but most players would find that the inverse relationship to be the case, all else equal.
(I am keeping out of scope for now the classic reasons why mouthpiece might be designed with these attributes varying.)
"My favorite reed strength"
Again--it's all about what works for you, but most players might continue that sentence to "marry" the strength to a particular stock mouthpiece, or what a custom faced mouthpiece might most be like as compared to a stock brand.
Many players also believe, this one too, that we go with the weakest reed that doesn't interfere with out artistry--a Mark Nuccio quote.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Bill
Date: 2016-06-26 22:32
Interesting comments. Thank you.
My language should have been clearer: by "breaking the code" I meant I was trying to find reeds for a set of mouthpieces that all seemed to have a similar facing and were worked on by the same person. For me, these mouthpieces had in common that they seem to lack any "meaningful" resistance. I couldn't find reeds beefy enough to make them sound like other mouthpieces I have.
Personally, I've had a swinging pendulum of impulses with reed strength, and there was a period when I loved to see how far I could scrape reeds without running into problems.
Now, like everyone, I aim to match reeds to mouthpieces, and most of the time I'm successful.
Except with this specific group of mouthpieces. I'll keep trying!
Bill Fogle
Ellsworth, Maine
(formerly Washington, DC)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
