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Re: Double-lip for beginner

Author: Caroline Smale
Date: 2017-11-01 03:30

Philip, I see you are using VD 5s on your M13 Lyre - this may be in part why your upper lip got calloused.

I don't think it is inevitable or perhaps even normal, for the upper lip or come to that the lower lip to get calloused. It might indicate a need for heavy biting to close that reed.

For the past 40 years I have played on a VD Crystal A1 with mostly VD blue box 3.5 reeds, though now I am getting pretty old I am using more #3s and haven't in all that time developed a callouse on either lip.
I do take only a very small amount of lip, upper and lower, over the teeth, prefering to use a firm lip rather than the teeth for support.

The downside is that over the years I have developed quite noticeable embouchure lines around the mouth area.
30 odd years ago when visiting the Leblanc HQ in Paris I was greeted with the comment "you have a clarinet player's face"
Not sure if that was a compliment or not!

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