 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: smokindok
Date: 2022-04-01 15:44
Over 50 years of clarinet playing, I have tried dozens of mouthpieces: open facings, closed facings, long facing length, short facing length, high baffle, low baffle, large chamber, small chamber, French, German, English, American. No matter what I tried, I always seemed to end up sounding like “me”. My fundamental sound stays the same, regardless of the equipment.
I resigned myself to the fact that the anatomy of the oral cavity has a strong influence on the tone produced, and that is just something I am stuck with. But then I thought, am I stuck with it?
After extensive consultation with multiple dentists, oral maxillofacial surgeons, and prosthodontists, I decided on a new approach. I had all my teeth extracted, several implants placed in my upper and lower jaws and three sets of snap-in-place dentures made to attach to the implants, each with different oral cavity configurations. There is the set with the teeth moved further out, for a large oral cavity, that matches perfectly the large bore Selmer Center Tone I use for big band playing. There is the denture with the teeth creating a more restricted oral cavity that works wonderfully with my small bore Selmer Recital, achieving a beautiful warm sound for chamber music playing. And then a middle of the road set, with the denture teeth at the location my natural teeth were at, for general purpose use with my R13 and my standard usual sound.
Though I realize this approach may not be for everyone, for less than the cost of a pair of Backun CG Carbon clarinets, it only took 43 dental appointments and 9 months healing time to achieve the variation in tone that I have been seeking.
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Author: Liquorice
Date: 2022-04-01 16:35
I had my dentures made by Silverstein, using a special vintage hard rubber material with a nano-scale polymer layer formed by a unique coating technology. The difference in resonance and response with the new dentures is astounding.
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Author: smokindok
Date: 2022-04-01 23:05
Liquorice wrote:
> I had my dentures made by Silverstein, using a special vintage
> hard rubber material with a nano-scale polymer layer formed by
> a unique coating technology. The difference in resonance and
> response with the new dentures is astounding.
Awesome, Liquorice. I wonder if they offer trials?
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Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2022-04-01 23:45
Wow! What an incredible story. At this stage, if it were me, I would not change horns but try a few mouthpieces around 1.06mm and as little 1.01mm tip opening. I can surely send you several samples to try for maybe a month or so.
Many years ago, I was at Peabody Institute studying with Iggy Gennusa and I had my wisdom teeth removed, the 2 lower ones. It took at least 6 months to get part of that sound back. An hour everyday were just low note long tones. With the help of Gennusa my sound actually got better and better. Many years later Gennusa had his teeth pulled and he lost that very famous sound. Perhaps he had the best sound in the world, or maybe within the top 5. He worked hard at returning his sweet sound, but it never totally came back. By the way I do play double lip. You might wish to try this part or all of the time when doing long tones. Gennusa was a double lip player and Marcellus was too for several years before switching to a single lip embouchure.
This is also vey common with brass players losing a few teeth, often they have to retire.
Good news here. I also studied in the summer months with Bob Marcellus. He had dentures, probably lost his teeth due to severe diabetes. We all know how beautiful his sound was. He too had me playing long tones as well as different facings. I'm around 1.05mm. Bob Marcellus was around 1.08 with a 13 Kaspar bore. People say Marcellus used a 1.11 tip opening. Well not the Kaspars I measured. I have several of these. The Kaspar Cicero, the Chicago, and the Ann Arbor molds I have. Due to legal reasons I can't use the names Chedeville nor Kaspar. Some smart guy, but an idiot in my point of view copyrighted these dead peoples names.
I wish you a lot of luck, I'm here if you need my assistance. Cheers! Bob
Designer of - Vintage 1940 Cicero Mouthpieces and the La Vecchia mouthpieces
Yamaha Artist 2015
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Author: smokindok
Date: 2022-04-02 05:37
Good memory, Ed!
And it was 7 years ago, to the day. What a coincidence!
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