Author: WhitePlainsDave
Date: 2015-03-26 17:15
Gerardo:
A couple of thoughts, perhaps [some] already known by you.
1) Many posters, you included, have suggested mouthpieces beyond the same price range of the Yamaha 4C and Hite Premiere you originally cited.
2) This price difference, all the more, has me standing by the idea that at this stage of the game, improvements will best come from you, not a mouthpiece change, although I do wish to concur with TomS that another place where money would be well spent is on a good private teacher: assuming you don't have one already.
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But...I'm also a realist and know people will want to change gear in hopes of buying performance improvement...and sometimes it does, if only a bit.
With that said, assuming you go out and buy a mouthpiece, and assuming further that you're new price ceiling is at around $100, not the original $40, based upon the mouthpieces you've been looking at, I would, in light of your current reed strength comfort range, buy 1 of 3 different Vandoren mouthpieces: an M13, M13 Lyre, or M15. These mouthpieces don't have tip openings that exceed your Yamaha 4C: a somewhat important point given that you are playing reeds at the lower end of the strength spectrum. This is NOT an insult. Abandon any notions you may have that reed strength is solely a product of mouth strength: a surrogate for clarinet experience. Reed strength by in large a product of what mouthpiece you are using.
http://www.vandoren-en.com/file/162130/
"Thank you. I looked on line for the Vandoren M13 and I got completely confused. There is the Vandoren M13, the Vandoren M13 Lyre, and both come in two configurations: Traditional and 88.... so when you suggest the Vandoren M13, which of the many versions you suggest ? "
I recommend a Traditional Beak M15 to students: Vandoren's CM317 product as per the link.
As it regards the "configurations," (i.e. Traditional Beak, Profile 88, and 13 Series Profile 88) if you are buying either of the M13 (Lyre or not) mouthpieces, at least according to the above referenced chart, they only come in 13 Series Profile 88 configuration.
The configurations here have to do with 2 mouthpiece attributes: the angle of the beak or top of the mouthpiece, and what pitch the mouthpiece is tuned to.
Her in the U.S., when tend to tune to concert "A" at 440 hz, so I would shy away from mouthpieces tuned to "A" at 442 hz. Long story short, and "painting with broad strokes," European orchestras tend to play around A= 442, as some American orchestras have changed to as well. But something tells me ![[wink]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie3.gif) that at 6 months into this, at 62, auditioning for and playing with [major] symphony orchestras is likely not on your event horizon.
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The reason why I am siding with 1 of these 3 mouthpieces, assuming you find it best to purchase a mouthpiece despite my warnings, is that suggested mouthpieces like the M30 are just too open for you. You will find your existing reeds too strong, and there is no strength to go lower than what you play, short of learning to sand down reeds: a path you are not ready to travel on yet. With the 3 mouthpieces I suggest you will find your existing reeds either right in size, or slightly too weak, allowing you to purchase strengths more in the 3 range: giving you wiggle room in either direction on reed strength choices.
(I'm neither knocking that mouthpiece or those who suggested it prior to knowing both your existing mouthpiece and favored reed strength. I happen to love the M30D, as in Deutch, which plays on Boehm (American) clarinets, but don't think you have the chops for it yet: it's too open at the tip, and I believe, it's rails too wide.
(BTW: I did not mean to imply by sanding down reeds that stronger reeds are thicker. Manufacturers tend to cut a brand of reeds identically across all strengths, and then test a reed's resitance, assigning it a strength, based on the naturally variability found in cane. I did mean to imply that sanding a reed: a techinique that must be taught/learned, will make any given reed weaker.) Sanding is NOT by any means as simple as taking material off the flat side of a reed.
As stated prior, many things go into what strength of reeds most players find appropriate on a mouthpiece brand and model, not just tip opening. There's facing length, the width of the rails, the material the mouthpiece is made of, and curvature of the rails just to name a few additional attributes.
Some people find thicker rails to produce a darker sound. But thicker rails, all else equal (like I believe the M30D has) usually require weaker reeds, and we have no wiggle room to drop your reed strength.
Someone also suggested the Ridenour Encore. I don't know its specs, although a call to Ridenour could probably answer that, and that IMHO, Tom Ridenour, on the whole, makes great products.
http://www.ridenourclarinetproducts.com/mid-rangeclarinet.html
Finally, there's where where to buy.
I urge you if possible to try before you buy. Ideally if some store near you has these mouthpieces in stock, and lets you try them first, that is ideal. Short of that, allow me to suggest that you buy on the internet from sellers with mouthpiece trial policies like Weiner Music, http://shop.weinermusic.com/Returns.asp (half way down the page.)
(I have no financial arrangements with any vendor or product discussed above.)
I'll leave you with what I think is the best mouthpiece for the money for you at this stage of your play
http://shop.weinermusic.com/KLOSE-CELEBRATED-METHOD-FOR-CLARINET-COMPLETE-3040/productinfo/PC3040/
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