Author: Lorenzo_M
Date: 2019-07-29 08:39
Note: I’m not a Vandoren artist nor do I use Vandoren mouthpieces regularly. I own a few but tend to not “like” most of their designs.
I tried the new BD4 and BD7 mouthpieces at Clarinetfest (first time going!) and I loved them. I’m not a fan of the BD5, I could never get it to play the way I want and never could get it to sound the way I like. Could just be me, but I also found it to be a bit sluggish in response. The BD4 is immediately responsive, has clarity and focus, played easier in every register for me and had plenty of color and projection....but I’d still call it a “dark” mouthpiece. Honestly it’s my favorite Vandoren mouthpiece ever.
The BD7 I really liked too....if you want a big sound that will give plenty of volume and power, but still maintain a relatively dark tone, this is a step up from the BD5. It was instantly comfortable for me, even though I was using the same reed as the BD4 (a new V12 3.5 I got as a sample). I didn’t spend as much time with it as the BD4, but I think it was a great playing piece.
I think people who like B40 series or bigger mouthpieces but want a smoother, wider sound would like the BD7. I tried a B40Lyre and own a B40Lyre and it had that kind of thing but bigger and richer sound. The B40Lyre felt small and tight sounding by comparison. I used to play a B40D for a while and the BD7 is not quite as dark, but is much easier to play. I use V12 3/3.5 on the B40D and V12 3.5/3.5+ with the B40/B40Lyre/BD7.
The BD4 felt like a tighter, more direct sounding BD5 and I thought it was easier to play, more responsive, and had more color available. For testing everything in the fest, I stuck with what I could remember off the top of my head....some Brahms no.2, some Mozart, some Beethoven No.6, some Nielsen, but mainly scales and arpeggios. My Bb was in the shop and I only have a student B12 as backup so I tended to stick to my A Clarinet when testing everything.
I think these are great mouthpieces! I will probably add a BD4 to the collection when it’s out.
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The Clarinet BBoard
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