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Re: Vintage, or Vintage Clone?

Author: mnorswor
Date: 2006-01-03 22:10

Well, as a veteran collector and probably one of the people Sylvain was speaking of, I'll chime in...

There are pros and cons to everything, especially mouthpieces. In my opinion, however, the clarinet community is far too concerned with what equipment this player or that player is using, particularly the mouthpiece. I too have fallen victim to all of the hype surrounding the most elite players and I went out and bought several Chedevilles after I heard about them and who played them for the first time.

Without discussing each and every mouthpiece I've ever played, my own story was one of trial and error. I own over 50 mouthpieces of all vintages, from Kaspars, Cheds, Bettoneys, Lelandais, to modern makers including Fobes, Pyne, Vandorens and others. As my playing was changing rapidly as a student, I switched often because I felt that I needed either this or that thing added into the sound. Sometimes I went to an older mpc or sometimes to a modern one.

Ultimately, what I was searching for was a setup that allowed me to make my own unique sound on the instrument. I never had aspirations of sounding like Marcellus, Wright or any of the above because I knew that I'd never achieve it to the degree that I wanted to. Nor should I!

The other thing that I discovered is that as a generality, clarinetists are the least flexible bunch of people I know with regard to sound quality, timbre, etc. Can you imagine 2 violinists ever sounding the same? or cellists? or particularly singers? NO NO NO!! Yet with clarinet players, the aim seems to be to sound like someone else, either a Morales, Stoltzman, Wright or whomever else you'd like to insert here. I wanted to sound like myself and needed to find equipment that would bring out my good qualities and hide some of the lesser qualities. Gosh knows we've all got them.

I went through years of trial and error and finally came up with something that works for me. I play on both types of mouthpieces, both new and old. A Kal Opperman for my regular clarinets and Cheds for my bass and Eb as well as an old Selmer and a Fobes for bass. (All of my bass mpcs have different qualities for different types of music.)

What I'd like to put forward is that there has been a general shrinking of thought with regard to sound and what not because of the recording industry. In some of the older recordings I have, I could easily pick out Berlin, Chicago, New York, Boston, Philadelphia based on the clarinet players sound. Nowadays, I can't do that so much anymore. Why is it that everyone wants to sound the same? Is this really art?

In so far as modern makers are concerned... they're artists, and completely necessary artists at that. These people like Opperman, Fobes and Smith work with their customers to help them find a mouthpiece that suits the individual, not something that suits the masses. Granted, many of us don't have the opportunity to work with them because of proximity issues, but then again, there are telephones!

As far as material is concerned...IMHO, it does make a difference because it too is a vibrating material and does contribute to the sound that is produced, just like a reed does. What material is best...that you have to figure out for yourself. For me, I find many good things in modern materials and in older materials. Find something that allows you the freedom to sound like yourself, not a copy of someone else. Let's stop comparing and have some personal integrity here. And remember, it's your life's work, you don't have to get it perfect right now!

For what it's worth,
Michael Norsworthy
http://www.michaelnorsworthy.com

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Vintage, or Vintage Clone? new

Brenda Siewert

2005-12-29 15:16