Author: Bob Barnhart ★2017
Date: 2021-04-13 20:48
Over the past 9 months, since the pandemic has pretty much shut down playing with others, I've been practicing, experimenting with equipment and recording the results.
During this time, I acquired a second BD7 from my best friend and finally purchased a BD4, which I liked so much I purchased a second one!
Based on practicing with several mouthpieces including the BD5, BD4 and BD7, I find that the BD4 is my favorite among these: it has a round/full/dense/focused/resonant sound, marvelous response (both articulation and range up to C7 with no problem), great intonation and flexibility (soft/loud, warm/brilliant, glissandi, ...). Like playing on my old B40-13, it just lets me play without thinking about it. Finally, it has a bit less resistance than my BD7s which make it more comfortable to play for long periods.
Unlike some others who have commented that the BD4 has a bright sound, I would say rather that it is capable of brilliance and sparkle when you want it, or a warmer, more mellow sound, when you want that. For me, unlike the BD5 and BD7 which seem to produce mostly "their sound", the BD4 is more neutral and amenable to a wider variety of tone colors.
Having said that, I still love the BD7 when I am playing (along with) more popular music or I want a bigger/darker sound for certain literature (e.g., Brahms). I am still impressed with its intonation, reliable/quick response and focused tone quality over all dynamics (especially for a very open mouthpiece). For me, the main drawback is the extreme altissimo: B7-C7... do not response as well unless I have a very mature reed.
Speaking of reeds, I play Pilgerstorfer 3.5-4.0 reeds on all the BD5/BD4/BD7 mouthpieces, with reeds that are ~3.75 being optimal for me. Since these reeds are a bit softer than others, this would probably be similar to a 3.0-3.5 V12.
Bob Barnhart
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The Clarinet BBoard
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