 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: WhitePlainsDave
Date: 2014-12-31 21:12
Contributor "seabreeze" had something to say here.
http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/read.html?f=1&i=413137&t=412806
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Author: seabreeze
Date: 2014-12-31 22:25
My comments were more directly on the performance of a D'addario X10E that I purchased at the ICA fest this summer and later had reworked by a mouthpiece tech. It has proved to be one of my best mouthpieces.
When I heard how good Julien Herve sounded at the ICA Clarinet Fest in Baton Rough this summer on his D'addario X15E, I decided to try a few of the new European models (X10E and X15E) at the D'addario booth, even though the facings are far more open than I play.
Someone at the booth said he had helped design the new European "E" models and that he had Herve specifically in mind. The "E" models (X10E and X15E) play at a higher pitch than the American models (X0, X5, and X10) and therefore cannot have precisely the same measurements as the America model. Something has to be reduced in size (i.e. bore width, tone chamber, overall length, etc) to raise the pitch, even though the overall design is almost indistinguishable from the regular American one.
I regret that I did not try to ask the E designer what changes he made internally or overall to raise the pitch, but to my ears, not only the pitch is different but there is also a subtle change in sorority and tone color. One sees the same kind of change in the difference, for instance, between the regular Vandoren CL4 and the CL4 13. The difference in sonority between these models is small but discernable; the CL4 13 has a warmer, mellower sound than the brighter CL4.
I wound up buying an XE10 D'addario instead of an X15E because it was more responsive. I had it refaced to a medium long close facing open about 1.01 mm at the tip and compared it to several regular (lower pitch) X0 D'addarios I had that the same mouthpiece tech worked on. Both he and I agreed that there is a difference in both the tone color and pitch in the European models.
Of course all this is subjective. Evidently the company was mainly interested in providing more open facings and higher pitch choices on the D'addario Es for the European market, not redesigning them to be sold as a new and different model.
The tone difference I perceive is that the X10Es, even after the facing is closed and the resistance curve is changed, offer a more subtle range of tone colors than their American counterparts--they are less aggressive to my ear. I can't speak directly for the X15E, since I didn't buy that one or have it worked on to suit me.
I am generalizing from a sample of one X10E, though my mouthpiece tech may have tried more and he hears a difference in pitch and a subtle but significant one in tone.
It would be interesting to hear other players' experiences in comparing the American D'addario to the European. Some say there is no difference other than the facing, but that can't be completely right because other alterations are necessary to raise the pitch, and these are likely to make some change in the tone even if the change is unintentional.
Post Edited (2014-12-31 23:39)
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