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Behn Mouthpiece+Allan Segal Barrel=I am Golden

Author: OyJoey
Date: 2009-05-08 05:37

I am preparing for my trio concert for next year and have been thinking about how to improve my sound color, tone, pitch and all that. It suddenly came to my realization that it's about time to upgrade my equipment.
First of all Mouth Piece. I have been playing on Vendoren MP for the last 18 years, and have gone through 5RV, M40, M45 and landed on 11.1. They are all very good, however something was missing. After researching for a good custom made piece I decided to give Brad Behn a shot. After trying a couple of different model I decided to get two out of his Zinner collections. I can't tell you how pleased I am with these PM. Not only it's easy to play, it is a real upgrade! I was able to created exactly the kind of timbre I was looking for, a round, warm, velvety sound, with only a no. 3 Rico Reserve.
And Then I became obsessed with Barrel and Bells. Of course I went for Backun first. They indeed immediate improved my tone and focus. It did felt better when I played my clarinets Bb and A. (RC and Festival, respectively, I also play on a Buffet Elite A).
The bitch became easier to control and scale and passages more even. I thought that was the beauty of getting semi-custom made barrel and bells, until I learned: Allan Segal custom made clarinet barrels.
I did so many researches trying to get a serious custom made barrel to improve my timbre and bitch. I read reviews on places, including those posted here. I felt this would be a great one to try.
I contacted Dr. Segal (Allan is a Surgeon-Musician-woodworker) told him history of my playing and even sent him my Buffet Barrel. He then discovered what was wrong with my barrel and gave me suggestions what he can do to improve my playing. (I might have been the most annoying customer that I wrote long emails and details to communicate with him)
Within a week upon he received my check and barrel, he sent back a beautifully crafted, precisely measured barrel (a fatboy type) to me. I was so excited and played on that barrel for the entire evening, pairing with my Brad Behn Zinner PM. I was utterly surprised that my scale playing became more even, my altissimo notes sounds very round, warm, and not so bright, my entire sound color just improved to a point where I cannot believe I could achieve - a warmer, more focused, velvety warm sound color.
My confidence suddenly got boosted by 100 times. The timbre I was able to achieve was amazing. I was SO PLEASED that I bought Behn PM + Segal Barrel. As many advanced clarinet players would know, a suitable MP and a good custom made barrel can make a whole lot of difference!
Bravo! Brad Behn and Dr. Allan Segal! Guys, Feel free to ask me any questions. I HIGHLY recommend their products!!!
I am now thinking about getting a cocobolo barrel from Dr. Segal!
Come to my Carl Fruhling Trio Concert next year!

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