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Re: reeds are flat in the altissimo

Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2019-05-12 10:07

Depends on the facing and the length of the mouthpiece. Also the R13's do play flat in general, since the bore is larger now.

This is why some mouthpiece companies are making mouthpieces that tune to 442 and why some horns do NOT drop in pitch in the upper register. Vandoren has the BD13 442 mouthpiece and I have a Cicero 442 mouthpiece so you don't have to throw away your horns. Problem with the BD13 is it's very open. Not good for anyone except a few pros.

Barrels help. So you may want to look at 64mm barrels probably with a reverse taper.

I don't play on Buffet's but I do use Steuer reeds sometimes and they do NOT go flat. If they do have your mouthpiece facing fixed. Shortened to be exact. Maybe as short as 32 to 34. Depends on the tip opening. I also make my own reeds as well. If you use thick cane as mentioned above and you are playing flat, its not the reeds.

So as you can see with someone made millions of reeds at Rico, including designing the Grand Concert reeds which have sold millions, you need to trust me here. Yes some reeds die and collapse and go flat because this is simply horrible cane, but that's not the subject.

In almost all cases it's the bore of the clarinets and the length and bore size of plus the chamber of the mouthpieces. For example the Vandoren M13 is too long so you have to use a short barrel around 63mm's to 64mm's on R13 horns. I can hear it now, people will say they use a 65mm barrel and they are fine. That's great, I'm happy for you. But this player is reaching out for help and I think these are the answers he needs. Also maybe the orchestra or band is tuning high. At 442 there is little hope that the upper register on a Buffet R13 made today will hit 442 on a standard 65mm Buffet barrel. It's not gonna happen. Reeds won't help. He needs to change his setup a bit.

Designer of - Vintage 1940 Cicero Mouthpieces and the La Vecchia mouthpieces

Yamaha Artist 2015

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