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Selmer C85 120 bass mouthpiece

Author: Annika
Date: 2006-11-23 12:43

Hi! I'm very new to bass clarinet playing, having only played the soprano clarinet until yesterday. My story is that I got some thumb problems from playing, and thus decided to let my regular clarinet spend most part of its time in the case during a limited period while my hand is healing, and now I find myself as the only bass clarinet player in our little amateur wind orchestra. When I some day get back to playing soprano, I hope to be able to double on bass occasionally, since I think that the bass is also a very nice member of the clarinet family, but I would not want to abandon my first love: the soprano Bb.

I've found a lot of useful information on this board about things to consider when switching, but now I have some more specific questions about my equipment.

I've been handed an instrument to borrow for as long as I'm playing it with this group. It is a wooden Noblet equipped with a Selmer C85 120 mouthpiece. I'd never touched a bass clarinet until I got this one yesterday, so I have no ability to judge this setup in comparison to other basses, but I still want to aid my learning process as far as possible when it comes to making the most out of this setup. I'm also a bit in a hurry to learn the bass up to a decent level, cause there's a concert coming up in a week and a half ... In other words I don't need the extra hindrance from a lousy mp/reed combo or such. (As I mentioned, the band is on an amateur level, so I'm not expected to sound great, especially not with such short notice, but right now I'd say I'm plain crappy, though I manage to make a sound and am starting to find the proper key positions :-) )

Well, I guess my question is twofold:

First I'm wondering what reed strengths/models best suit this C85 120 mouthpiece and a beginning doubler. I was looking at the Selmer homepage http://www.selmer.fr/html/english/claribas/claris/bec/bec.htm but couldn't find any information on what reeds the different mouthpieces were optimized for. I did find out, however, that the tip opening is 1.90 mm and the table length 27.00 mm for this particular model. Right now I'm playing on a 2.5 Vandoren blue box tenor sax reed (That's the only kind they had in the local shop). This is a little softer than what I use on my Grabner K13 mp on soprano, but I found the #3 I tried a bit hard, and I suppose it takes some time to build up the right emboucher muscels for the larger bass mouthpiece. (By the end of the rehearsal yesterday, my mouth was so tired even with the #2.5 that I couldn't help leaking air out of the corners of it while playing, and my sound was even worse then than in the beginning of the evening, so it might be a while until I'll be able to play anything harder for an extended period of time. Then again, I don't think I was following the recommended procedure by picking up a new instrument half an hour before rehearsal and then playing for two - three hours in the very first sitting.) Anyway, I want to develop a better sound and am wondering if anyone has input on if there are reeds better suited for my setup, or if I by chance has stumbled upon a good choice. I'm mainly interested in playing classical music. (And even though they're not carrying other reeds locally, I should be able to order them and get them in my mailbox the following day, so you can just fire away with whatever suggestions that comes to mind!) For instance, do people generally prefer bass clarinet or tenor sax reeds with this mouthpiece?

The second part of my question is about the mouthpiece itself. Is the C85 120 regarded as a good mp to learn on and will it last also when I have hopefully become more proficient? I'd say that investing in a new mouthpiece is about as far as I'm able to stretch economically right now for the bass playing. But I'm obviously not in the position yet to judge for myself what would be a good mp for me, and would appreciate some pointers. One thing I'm wondering is whether there is a point in trying to "match" the mouthpieces one is playing for different sizes clarinets, to facilitate the switches between them? Like if I have a medium close opening on the soprano, should I aim for something similar on bass?

Well, that's a lot of thoughts and questions from a newbie. I'd appreciate any input! Thanks!

Now, I'd better get back to practicing ...

Annika

Post Edited (2006-11-23 13:00)

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