 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: angella
Date: 1999-08-04 22:05
has anyone played one? or plays one now??? are they worth the almost double price? what's the difference?
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Author: Hiroshi
Date: 1999-08-05 01:43
I used a Pomarico grenadilla opening 1.Two things I felt:
1)Sound is very different from hard rubber one.Just like a decent and velvetted hasky voice of a female singer.
2)Instead I felt it lacked crispness hard rubber ones had.
Maybe,the shape is the first criteria,material the second.
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Author: angella
Date: 1999-08-05 01:49
so, do you feel it lacked in projection or ability to produce volume?
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Author: Hiroshi
Date: 1999-08-05 02:04
Yes as far as the Pomarico one was concerned.I gave it to my brother.
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Author: Daniel
Date: 1999-08-05 02:08
The problem with wood mouthpieces is that the interiors are more fluctuant with temperature and humidity. One day a wood mouthpiece will play gret, another day, it may be stuffy, or it may be bright.. etc.. rather unpredictable. And due to the moisture and temperature change while playing, they even change over the course of a performance. Of course, it also depends on the wood. Some woods change easier than others.
I believe Greg Smith doctors his wood mouthpieces to prevent such changes. But, i still think they change much more over a shorter period of time compared to hard rubber.
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Author: HIROSHI
Date: 1999-08-05 07:23
Influence of material:someone posted this link in the past,and I found it in my favorites. FYI.
http://www.iinet.net.au/~nickl/wood.html
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Author: Greg Smith
Date: 1999-08-05 14:11
Daniel wrote:
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The problem with wood mouthpieces is that the interiors are more fluctuant with temperature and humidity. One day a wood mouthpiece will play gret, another day, it may be stuffy, or it may be bright.. etc.. rather unpredictable. And due to the moisture and temperature change while playing, they even change over the course of a performance. Of course, it also depends on the wood. Some woods change easier than others.
I believe Greg Smith doctors his wood mouthpieces to prevent such changes. But, i still think they change much more over a shorter period of time compared to hard rubber.
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Daniel,
You are only partially correct about the variability of a wood mouthpiece. I do treat the wood to help with slight variabilities but my experience and that of others that play my hardwood mouthpieces is that they do not change "MUCH more over a shorter period of time than hard rubber" as you state. The facing and interior measurements of mouthpieces that I have measured of my customers wood mouthpieces 1 -4 years old have remained stable in every case.
As to the possibility that there are SLIGHT changes in how the mouthpiece plays during a playing session, I have not heard of complaints that it is enough of a margin to be detrimental in any way. One of the beauties of the wood mouthpiece is that the slight change that MAY occur is usually beneficial - creating a "symbiotic" relationship between wood reed and wood mthpc. One is able to "pull" the qualities of the sound of the wood mthpc out from it giving a unique beauty and shape to the sound.
The quality of my hardwoods and finishing techniques minimize this to the degree that if the player uses it under normal "inside" conditions (no sudden temp. or humidity changes) the mouthpiece will be reliable in every way. If ever there were a sense that the mouthpiece had changed, I offer to return it to the original specs. at a nominal charge.
I have many top professional players all over the world that love and play them all of the time. Would a player relying on consistency to this degree take the chance that your post implys?
I have my own sources for wood and it is of distinctly higher quality than that produced by Pomarico.....not to mentioned the difference in the hand crafting that I do.
Greg Smith
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Author: Greg Smith
Date: 1999-08-05 14:16
Hiroshi wrote:
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I used a Pomarico grenadilla opening 1.Two things I felt:
1)Sound is very different from hard rubber one.Just like a decent and velvetted hasky voice of a female singer.
2)Instead I felt it lacked crispness hard rubber ones had.
Maybe,the shape is the first criteria,material the second.
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In no way do my wood mouthpieces resemble that of Pomarico. Please see my other post on this thread concerning this.
Greg Smith
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Author: Don Poulsen
Date: 1999-08-05 16:09
I have never used one of Greg's mouthpieces or any other wooden mouthpiece. However, to back him up, it seems that if changes due to the effects of temperature and humidity on the wood during performance were significant, wooden instruments would be affected in a similar manner. And since this doesn't seem to be a big issue with wooden instruments...
Of course, conditions that could cause a wooden instrument to crack could, I presume, cause a wooden mouthpiece to crack as well.
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Author: Dave Spiegelthal
Date: 1999-08-05 16:51
In defense of Pomarico, I have two of their crystal mouthpieces (for bass clarinet and B-flat clarinet), and one of their wooden mouthpieces for B-flat clarinet. I like them all, and, relevant to this topic, I've had good luck with the wooden one. I'm sure Greg Smith's wood mouthpieces are excellent, but it shouldn't be inferred that Pomarico's are bad.
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Author: Greg
Date: 1999-08-05 23:16
The wood will not crack if it is aged and treated properly and is of the highest quality. I have had no such cases....
Greg
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Don Poulsen wrote:
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I have never used one of Greg's mouthpieces or any other wooden mouthpiece. However, to back him up, it seems that if changes due to the effects of temperature and humidity on the wood during performance were significant, wooden instruments would be affected in a similar manner. And since this doesn't seem to be a big issue with wooden instruments...
Of course, conditions that could cause a wooden instrument to crack could, I presume, cause a wooden mouthpiece to crack as well.
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Author: Greg
Date: 1999-08-05 23:24
David -
Please re-read my posts. Nowhere is it stated or otherwise implied that Pomarico wood mouthpieces are "bad". I stated my opinion that the wood source I use is of distinctly higher quality and that my mouthpiece was hand faced and hand crafted.
Greg Smith
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Dave Spiegelthal wrote:
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In defense of Pomarico, I have two of their crystal mouthpieces (for bass clarinet and B-flat clarinet), and one of their wooden mouthpieces for B-flat clarinet. I like them all, and, relevant to this topic, I've had good luck with the wooden one. I'm sure Greg Smith's wood mouthpieces are excellent, but it shouldn't be inferred that Pomarico's are bad.
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