Author: clarinetguy ★2017
Date: 2009-10-03 21:00
All of these responses are quite interesting. Your question reminded me of my own experiences in high school and college, and yes, a custom mouthpiece was involved.
In the early 70s after my sophomore year of high school, I got a new R13. It was clear to my teacher that my old Woodwind K-8 mouthpiece would no longer do. As I selected my new instrument in the music store, I tried a Portnoy mouthpiece that I really liked, but my teacher told me he could do even better for me. He was working on a masters degree at the time, and his teacher had connections with someone who was making custom mouthpieces with Sumner blanks (I'm not sure if he was working on already-existing Sumner mouthpieces or if he was actually creating his own mouthpieces with Sumner's product). The Sumner mouthpiece was fine, but I didn't have the opportunity to try it along with others. I also never had the opportunity to meet the man who had worked on it. It was just sold to me, and I was told that it would be the mouthpiece that I would be using.
It turned out to be all right, and I used it during my high school and college years. While in college, my teacher arranged to have it refaced, but again, I was not given the opportunity to meet the man who had worked on it. Looking back now, I think it was a good mouthpiece, but it wasn't outstanding. I wonder if it was really the best mouthpiece for me.
After graduating, I had had enough of it and I stopped using it. I later used a B-45 (which a teacher in grad school recommended), but after a while I became more and more frustrated with it and gave it up. This was followed with a Blayman (a very nice mouthpiece) and my current M15.
It is possible that one of these custom mouthpieces will be better than what you already have, but there are no guarantees. If you really think that you need a new mouthpiece you can try them, but before you buy, also try some other mass-produced mouthpieces. It's very possible that you'll decide that it's worth keeping your M30.
|
|
The Clarinet BBoard
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
