 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: _j.wa_
Date: 2017-01-21 03:52
Currently I'm using a Vandoren CL5 mouthpiece with 3.5+ V.21 reeds. The altissimo comes out very strained (if at all) so I was thinking about getting harder reeds (4s or so.) A friend told me to try other mouthpieces. I started experimenting with mouthpieces I used to use. First I tried my old M13 Lyre Prof. 88 (still not sure what the 88 is). I loved this mouthpiece because the articulation was crisp and it didn't take much air to make a resonant sound, however the color was very bright and the sound was piercing rather than round. The altissimo was still weak, so I moved on. Next I tried my verrrry old 5RV Lyre and I LOVED IT. The altissimo came out with ease and the articulation was fine. There was next to no resistance in any of the registers and it felt free flowing. The problem is that I couldn't color my sound like I like and it was still bring no matter what I did. The CL5 has given me the most flexibility with my sound up to the D above the staff, but the 5RV gave me the greatest ease of articulation and altissimo. I want a medium between the two. Flexible with effortless playing. I want to try the BD5 from Vandoren, but I want to know what you guys think. Thanks!
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Author: bassclarinet101 ★2017
Date: 2017-01-21 04:07
Well, the big first thing is: How much are you willing to spend on a mouthpiece? There are a lot of great mouthpieces in the different price ranges, and the choice of mouthpiece is a highly personal experience.
For example, I'm not a fan of what seems like an overly thick tip rail to me on the BD5, but some people swear by the mouthpiece, and it does seem to be incredibly reed friendly.
In different areas be sure to try the D'Addario Reserve mouthpieces and Vandoren mouthpieces. From private makers, check out Walter Grabner, Brad Behn, Clark Fobes, Backun, Theo Wanne, and more. If you come across a mouthpiece that hits the mark for you, getting the feel and tone that you want, snap it up!
-Daniel
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Author: dorjepismo ★2017
Date: 2017-01-21 06:58
Only times I've ever had good luck with mouthpieces were when I could try out a lot of them, even if they were from the same maker. Also, I've never had one I really was happy with, one that sounded in any way "special," that didn't come from a private maker as opposed to a corporation. That usually means setting something up and traveling somewhere. Daniel's list seems pretty good, as does his question about how many bucks you're willing to dump into the quest. How badly do you want to play a couple warm-up notes and see another clarinetist a few yards away do a double-take? Wish someone had told me that a couple decades before I figured it out.
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Author: TomS
Date: 2017-01-21 07:34
Just for fun, try the plain M13 (non-lyre) with a 56 Rue Lepic ... about a 3.5 or 3.5+ strength. May surprise you ... more compact and smoother than the M13-lyre or 5RV-lyre. Maybe brighter than the M13-lyre and less bright than the 5RV-lyre.
M13 is centered with depth and projection and the high notes just pop out with ease and less resistance than the other two mentioned MPs. Very underrated and underutilized MP, IMHO. Very good in band music, skipping around the stratosphere on a 1st or solo clarinet part.
The Rico reserve X0 is nice, responds well, has good warmth but it doesn't tune well for me ... I like the VD MPs better, especially the ones designed for 440 pitch.
Other than that, a handmade MP maker might be your best bet, such as McClune, Grabner, Ridenour, Behn, Hawkins, Smith or Fobes.
The 88 profile Vandoren have a smaller bite than the non-88s.
Tom
Post Edited (2017-01-21 07:40)
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Author: Dan Shusta
Date: 2017-01-21 09:53
Jonathan, from reading your original post, it appears that your CL5 gives you the sound color and flexibility that you desire and that the only problem is essentially an altissimo issue.
Yes, there is the option of trying many different mouthpieces, however, the ones you've tried didn't give you the characteristics of the CL5.
My suggestion equates with bassclarinet101 and TomS. Contact a mouthpiece specialist and have your CL5 "tweaked" to give you the results that you are looking for.
To make things just a little bit easier, I did some research on U.S. mouthpiece craftsmen to save you some time.
In the long run, I believe this route will be less frustrating and get you a mouthpiece that you truly enjoy in the least amount of time.
Listed in alphabetical order:
Bob Bernado, 661-313-1007, savagesax@steuerwoodwindreeds.com
Brad Behn, 405-651-6063, bradbehn@hotmail.com
Clark W Fobes, 415-585-0636, clark@clarkwfobes.com
Walter Grabner, 847-266-8644, walter@clarinetxpress.com
Richard Hawkins, 440-776-9875, hawkinsrg@oberlin.net
Vytas Krass, (no phone listed), krassmouthpieces@aol.com
Ben Redwine, 410-693-9741, info@rjmusicgroup.com
Gregory Smith, 847-866-8331, gregory@gregory-smith.com
Theo Wanne, 360-392-8416, info@theowanne.com
Good luck!
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Author: kdk
Date: 2017-01-21 18:14
I'm going to take a contrarian view and suggest that, IMO, you may be asking too much of a mouthpiece. Mouthpieces can certainly make things easier or harder and some mouthpieces better fit an individual's physical approach to playing than others. But the mouthpiece only influences, it doesn't create, the musical result.
If the mouthpieces you experimented with (5RV excepted) seem to give you problems with the altissimo notes, I would suspect that there's something about your approach to the altissimo range that might not be optimal. And I'm a little suspicious that, with "brightness" and weak altissimo going hand-in-hand with two of the three mouthpieces you tried, your reed choice may be part of the problem because many players are able to get very good results over the whole range from all three. Sometimes using a reed that is not the ideal strength and also unbalanced can interfere more with altissimo response than anything else in the whole system. Poorly balanced reeds can also interfere with your control of the tone color because different parts of the reed are vibrating more easily or less easily, and when you try to color the sound deliberately, you generally need to have the whole reed responding.
You can always experiment with more mouthpieces, or try to work with one of the craftsmen listed in Dan's post, but having the help of a knowledgeable teacher (as Tom suggested in your original thread) would almost certainly go farther and more quickly toward settling the conflict you're finding between altissimo response and tone color. None of those three mouthpieces, IMO, should be making it so hard for you to get the musical result you want.
Karl
Post Edited (2017-01-21 19:54)
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Author: Wes
Date: 2017-01-22 01:02
When I try a mouthpiece with poor altissimo, I often find that the tip rail or the facing leading into the tip rail is not right. When that is corrected, the high notes are better, hopefully to double high C. If the flat back side of the reed does not really meet up with the tip rail, the notes don't come out. Your results may be different.
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Author: _j.wa_
Date: 2017-01-22 03:28
I've heard a lot about voicing and read a bunch if posts about voicing as well. I find it difficult to visualize, so im wondering if this is what's affecting me too. I read about the swab in bell "Taps method", but I can't quite seem to apply that to my playing. Any suggestions?
And thank you all so much for the contacts of the mouthpiece makers. In my area, there aren't any professional players or superb instructors that aren't less than 2 hours away, so I'm doing my best to get pointers online. Thank you for all of your responses!
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Author: dorjepismo ★2017
Date: 2017-01-22 07:57
Assuming the "taps method" is stopping the end of the instrument, closing everything but the register key, and playing tunes in the overtone series, that does get you used to doing the kinds of things with the inside of your mouth that can be useful with really high notes. Getting used to bouncing between E and A about mezzo piano attacking with the air instead of tonguing and not changing the fingering is good too. If you can't easily do that with your setup after spending some time trying, then maybe you're right about your equipment making the altissimo unreasonably hard.
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