 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2011-07-02 03:08
Just throwing a hat in the ring for Richard Hawkin's camp. I've used his mouthpieces before, and veered away for a while, but lately I've been sick and tired of dealing with cane - breaking them in, adjusting, finding the one that's working THAT day/night for THAT concert, having it dry out for ceremonies, stuff like that.
Granted, I'm an Army musician and the majority of my gigs are outdoors, whether in the summer, fall, or spring, but I feel this combination could work for anyone, outdoors or in. I got sick and tired of cane, so bought two legeres, and then figured I'd use a legere artist who makes good mouthpieces for a mouthpiece. So far, I've found legere to work well on my M15, my backun L, my walter grabnerbut the richard hawkins (who designs his mouthpieces to work with legere reeds) R model gives me the most focused sound and is very easy to play. Glad I found it, and it's a keeper. Still have ONE more mouthpiece on the way to test, but at the very least, I know I have a GREAT combo, and something that work well, and work the same, EVERY time.
No more fussiness for me. Throw on my mouthpiece and reed and start playing music.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: ThatPerfectReed
Date: 2011-07-02 03:48
Hi Alexi:
That's interesting---a reed brand specific mouthpiece.
Normally, with the inconsistency of cane, best practice might be to be strictly mouthpiece centric---but with synthetics like Legere, love them or not, you do get the consistency that in fact could have you conceivably mouthpiece shopping with reed (albeit synthetic) actually in hand.
So Alexi, I take it your Hawkins mouthpiece change hasn't caused you to take a negative hit with cane has it? In other words the occasional good cane reed, that you might practice with indoors, still plays well on your Hawkins (I hope)?
Do you know what it is about the mouthpiece that Hawkins has customized to make it more, at least what he thinks is, Legere friendly?
Yeah, outdoor playing, humidity and temperature change, the need for even so-so cane to remain moist...who could blame you, given your Army (i.e. frequent outdoor) performances to choose reliability, even if it comes at the expense of the best cane reed still outsurpassing the best synthetic.
Finding that best cane, let alone you keeping it moist in your capacity, with this no doubt being your "busy season," is no doubt a Herculian task.
I'm glad you found a winning combination.
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Author: clarinetmc
Date: 2011-07-02 04:00
I'm a former student of Richard Hawkins and ventured away from his mouthpieces in Grad. School only to find myself playing on his mouthpieces again. In my opinion, they are the best thing out there and yes, do work well with Legeres (even though I prefer cane reeds). Glad to hear there is another Hawkins lover out there!
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2011-07-02 04:50
THATPERFECTREED,
I know. I got the idea when a long time ago, I read a thread about Charles Neidich playing a masterclass where he changed MOUTHPIECES instead of reeds. It was more than likely a gimmick as I'm sure he can sound amazing on pretty much ANY combination, but it had me thinking about finding a reed you like, and working towards the mouthpiece that'll work. For my situation, legere makes perfect sense. So knowing Mr. Hawkins is a legere artist and also a VERY good mouthpiece craftsman, made me gravitate straight towards him. And it worked.
But you're right. In my opinion, and my instructor's as well, the legere is not going to be as good as a VERY well adjusted cane reed. But man, the time and energy and frustration of trying to adjust reeds is NOT missed. Not to mention, with having the CONSISTENCY of having a reed that plays the same EVERY time, it makes it VERY easy to play. I know it's going to speak, I know HOW it's going to speak, and I know what it's going to feel like EVERY time. Makes it easier to blame any mistakes in music on myself and know what I need to work on instead of wondering if I would have sounded better on a better reed, or taking time to pick that "perfect" reed of the day.
As for the Hawkin's mouthpiece being legere friendly, he uses legere for practice and performance. So I concluded that he more than likely faces mouthpieces with legere reeds. I called him and he stated he recommends size 4 legere signatures with his mouthpieces. I tried it, it works, and I'm happy. For what it's worth, other mouthpieces out there are also "legere friendly" such as Walter Grabner's. I believe he uses cane, but his mouthpiece DOES work very well with a legere.
It works for me, and the biggest thing I like is the consistency and peace of mind that it's going to play. I still have a little bit of adjusting to do to it (I in frequently overblow something causing in a squeak in the clarion register) but I'll find that perfect alignment and figure it out a little more. But in the three weeks or so I've been using it, I see GREAT promise and just have to hope that these reeds are being made for a LONG LONG time.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: ThatPerfectReed
Date: 2011-07-02 05:10
Great story Alexi.
...and listening to Mr. Hawkins at the Legere site:
http://www.legere.com/index.php?page=take-the-challenge
I wish us both his success!
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