The Clarinet BBoard

Re: BG Tradition...breaking?

Author: Bob Bernardo  Date:   2019-02-14 16:38 Laughing at your last line! Yes it would surely be great to hear from others! I saw Stanley at the ClarinetFest. He was with Vandoren. At 88 years old I think he jumps around like he is still in his 30's. I'm not sure if he performed, but I did hear him not long ago playing the Mozart Concerto and again at 88 it was nothing short of remarkable. The end of the 3rd movement instead of standing there he plays with the orchestra! Guess he got bored several years ago and added the violin part As far as I know he's still using the same mouthpiece as he did when he was about 20 years old or maybe even a shade younger. As for hardness of a mouthpiece rod rubber was the preferred rubber, Sulphur is what makes the rod rubber harder or weaker. Adding or more makes it harder, but too much can kill the rubber and make it brittle. I get the rubber in Michigan. I don't have secrets, with that, but I do with bore measurements and the gauges I've designed. Here's something no one knew about. Babbitt used old tires several years ago, melted them down into pellets and then added sulphur and molded them into mouthpieces!!! Crazy! Heck it worked! But after 10 years or less the mouthpieces changed colors from bright black to that weird greenish brown. Sometimes when a mouthpiece is really old and has been sitting around for years the first time you try it it has a bitter taste to it. That I believe is the sulphur. Get to a hall, a church, somewhere with a decent sound, even a small gym, when no one is there and then play the mouthpieces, ligatures. Not when the orchestra or band is there. You should hear slight variations. Articulation is a must to try out and above high C and just below high C looking for a clean tonguing and no delays when the tongue hits the reed. A common problem with ligatures is that delay and then you hear the sound. It's almost always worse on an "A" clarinet. So it's actually amazing how critical the ligature is. It can help you tongue faster, cleaner, and improve your sound. But you already know this. As usual it's always fun chatting with you. You always have a lot of great and extended knowledge with a wealth of information. Cheers! Designer of - Vintage 1940 Cicero Mouthpieces and the La Vecchia mouthpieces Yamaha Artist 2015

Topics	Author	Date
BG Tradition...breaking?  new	Paul Aviles	2019-02-14 00:33
Re: BG Tradition...breaking?  new	Bob Bernardo	2019-02-14 09:12
Re: BG Tradition...breaking?  new	ruben	2019-02-15 10:51
Re: BG Tradition...breaking?  new	Paul Aviles	2019-02-14 15:56
Re: BG Tradition...breaking?  new	Bob Bernardo	2019-02-14 16:38
Re: BG Tradition...breaking?  new	Paul Aviles	2019-02-14 19:41

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