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Re: Inexpensive mouthpiuece for a darker warmer tone ?

Author: WhitePlainsDave
Date: 2015-03-24 17:55

Gerardo:

Here's my 2 cents.

At 6 months of playing, a darker and warmer tone is best derived from playing your existing Yamaha 4C mouthpiece, which is a good beginner mouthpiece, and developing your desired tone through subtle changes to your embouchure, and perhaps reed strength.

Be very cautious of what improvements a mouthpiece will give you at this early stage of your play, especially since you seem to imply that around $40 is your price ceiling for the purchase of a replacement mouthpiece.

I say save the money towards someday buying a professional mouthpiece.

Now, I'm not saying that mouthpieces can't make a difference. They can, but the situation has to be right.

What I am saying is that with 6 months in this craft, and $40 to spend, your best strategy is to practice: which only costs you your time.

I know...that's not the answer you may want to hear, and yet I think it the most solid advice one can give you, sight unseen. Most new players look for hardware fixes to their problems. The lucky players are the ones with teachers who know when hardware is part of a solution--which often it is not--and the smart players listen to those instructors, who suggest they put their time into the etude books they've assigned.

If you were playing a junky mouthpiece, perhaps my story would differ. But by no means is a 4C a bad mouthpiece as introductory ones go.

There are no shortcuts in clarinet play, but there are direct routes to proficiency. Those direct routes are the solid use, of solid study guides (books.)

I would suggest you listen to clarinet players whose sound you like, (youtube) and practice trying to copy their sound by experimental with subtle changes to your embouchure. Play long tones...experiment with double lip embouchure and see if you can incorporate into your single lip play (assuming you play single lip: with only the bottom lip covering the bottom teeth) some of the upper pallette expansion you get from double lip play.

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But let me guess, I haven't convinced you. And meanwhile others will be quick to offer you mouthpiece suggestions...so I am going to cover that as well, only because if you take that route, and I suggest you don't, that you take the best path.

The Yamaha 4C:

http://usa.yamaha.com/products/musical-instruments/winds/mouthpieces/woodwind/clarinets_series/?mode=series#tab=PD5115596

has a tip opening of 1.05mm, which is a relatively closed tip as mouthpieces go, on a 19mm (medium)
http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/read.html?f=1&i=211304&t=210972 facing length.

Note that there are many attributes that make for a mouthpiece design not covered here, like rail width/curvature, materials, bore, etc. Even then, what works for one player may not work for another.

Meanwhile the Hite Premiere

http://swanlakevillage.com/jdhite/mouthpieces/premiere.htm

has a tip opening of .043" = 1.0922mm, which makes it slightly more than the 4C.

I don't have specifications on this latter mouthpiece's facing but wish to make known that all other things equal, smaller tip and longer facing make for mouthpieces that normally require stronger reeds.

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With this said, if you must try another mouthpiece, I would recommend you try a leading mouthpiece maker's introductory offerings, like Clark Fobes http://www.clarkwfobes.com/clarinet_mouthpieces.html Debut model.

It has a facing smaller than either of the mouthpieces you mentioned http://www.clarkwfobes.com/mp-chart.html but on a shorter 17mm facing.

Another brand to try would one of the mouthpieces from Brad Behn's Overture Collection: another student line of mouthpieces.

http://www.clarinetmouthpiece.com/mouthpieces/overture/overture-collection/

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Gerardo...when people, particularly students, ask me what's the best ligature out there, I tell them "The Klose Studies Volume 1," a book. [wink]