Author: seabreeze
Date: 2019-01-13 23:22
Kessler Music now provides a few smidgens of tech data on how the Evolution model differs from the older Reserve model clarinet mouthpieces. See
http://kesslerandsons.com. Click on woodwinds and then clarinet mouthpieces for the info.
The basic changes seem to be these:
The baffle is lowered to produce a larger air column and increase projection and "nuance." This seems to have been done more in the higher pitch model than the lower pitch one.
The chamber is redesigned to accommodate a "larger throughput of air."
The window is slightly larger.
The exterior of the mouthpiece blank is enlarged to add mass and enrich the tone.
The facing is 1.08 mm and "medium long."
They add that "both the A = 440 and the A = 442 models can play in tune at A = 440, 441, or 442 but the A = 440 model has a slightly larger chamber diameter giving a slightly darker tone "similar to the Vandoren Series 13."
It would be great to hear Richie Hawley further elaborate on these differences.
I haven't tried the lower pitch model but I have tried one of the higher pitched ones. I say thumbs up on this model! The A = 442 Evolution has a very mature, flexible sound for me that holds the tone very well at all dynamic levels and allows a very rapid, musically attractive staccato and fluid legato. It doesn't have the rather constricted tightness of the earlier Reserve models and I find the resistance curve very reed friendly. It plays very well with reeds in the 3 to 4 strength range (Behn Aria, Vandoren V-21, Gonzales FOF.) The tone quality is a nice compromise between dark and vibrant and the altissimo is full and controllable--not pinched or shrill. Though I am used to mouthpieces with close facings (M13 lyre, M15) adapting to this facing has been quick and painless.
Players trying the mouthpiece out should do real music excerpts on it. Play Midsummer Night's Dream, Pines of Rome, Cappricio Espagnol, Peter and the Wolf, the Saint Saens Sonata, the Poulenc Sonata, etc. Don't just noodle!! This piece is made to play music and reveals what it can do best in real music phrases. On my clarinets (Buffet R13 1970 and Evette and Schaeffer K-Series) the Evolution sounds best paired with a Tosca barrel. Not sure why this is so, but the Tosca barrel really made it sing.
After some days trying it, let me add one caveat. It is not my favorite mouthpiece, because some others I own, a Fobes San Francisco CF for example and two Brad Behns, a Concept II and an Epic play with a more complex overtone "ping" (brighter sound?) that I prefer. But I appreciate the versatility of the Evolution and can easily see that many might find it just right for them.
Post Edited (2019-02-14 00:15)
|
|
The Clarinet BBoard
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
