 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Ursa
Date: 2016-01-04 14:04
As I prepare for the 2016 performance season, I find that, yet again, my mouthpieces are starting to get worn. This is starting to become a real pain. In the past six years, I've managed to kill off the trusty Selmer HS* I played on for years, another HS* that I acquired used, a once-wonderful Buffet C Crown, and now both my vintage Chedeville-blank Coast and backup Pyne PolyCrystal pieces are starting to get worn.
It's always the same. First the altissimo notes lose their holding power, then one side rail will wear more than the other and squeaking will ensue. Mouthpieces only seem to play like new for a year, then degrade rapidly after that.
Yes, I play at extreme dynamics most of the time, in what could be called a big-band setting. That certainly doesn't help.
QUESTION: Could I expect longer service from a crystal mouthpiece, or some other material besides hard rubber? Or is short mouthpiece life just a cost of doing business when constantly playing beyond fortissimo?
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Author: Mike Blinn
Date: 2016-01-04 14:39
Greg,
Yes, you can expect longer service from a crystal mouthpiece. I played a Pomarico crystal for years without any sign of wear or change. Then I dropped it and that was that!
Mike
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Author: Jeroen
Date: 2016-01-04 15:58
Heard a story that reeds wear faster on crystal mouthpieces because of the harder material.
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Author: Mojo
Date: 2016-01-04 17:05
This is a higher amount of wear than average. But it sounds normal for you for whatever reason.
Have you tried getting any of them refaced? You should get a diagnosis of the wear pattern and can get them restored for less $ than buying a new mouthpiece.
MojoMP.com
Mojo Mouthpiece Work LLC
MojoMouthpieceWork@yahoo.com
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Author: Una
Date: 2016-01-04 20:21
I would start trying different crystal mouthpieces if I were in your situation. Stability is one of the positive aspects of crystal mouthpieces. Finding the right one is the key. Also, remembering that it's glass and can crack or break if it falls just right no matter how soft the surface may be. I went through several brands and styles of crystal mouthpieces before I found my RIA 3 that I use for jazz settings. It is "the one".
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Author: Caroline Smale
Date: 2016-01-04 21:39
35-40 years constant use of my VD crystal A1 and it shows no signs of wear. Barring accidents a crystal should last you a lifetime.
Do you wipe your hand or anything else over the lay of yoour hard rubber mouthpieces to wipe them off etc? this over time can certainly cause wear on the rails and tip.
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Author: kilo
Date: 2016-01-04 22:15
Just an aside here, but I wonder how many clarinetists would use metal mouthpieces if they were available, play-worthy, and, of course, endorsed by well-known performing clarinetists. Given the excitement with which new ligature designs are greeted I'm surprised that some innovative mouthpiece manufacturer hasn't tried this. How about a new, radically re-designed, cryogenic mouthpiece made from unobtainium? Seems the saxophone community is more apt to jump on this sort of thing.
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Author: sonicbang
Date: 2016-01-04 23:21
Greg,
It's hard to guess without see you while playing, but I suspect you may have a more asymmetric embochure than the average. You can of course sound great, but this way your reeds wear out one mouthpiece rail faster than on the other side. What you wrote sounds like a classic example of mouthpiece asymmetry caused by the phenomenon I described above. This means you really have to have your mouthpieces refaced, or have to aquire a mouthpiece with metal inlay. They are rare, however they are not fragile like crystal, and should serve you a lifetime.
Mark
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Author: Wes
Date: 2016-01-04 23:35
Every day, I play the clarinet on a mouthpiece that I bought many decades ago and it never seems to change, sounding good from bottom to double high C. Thus, a person like me cannot relate to this problem.
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Author: Simon Aldrich
Date: 2016-01-05 09:16
Regarding mouthpiece wear, the excellent mouthpiece-maker Brad Behn wrote to this forum a few years ago:
http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/read.html?f=1&i=391823&t=391776
From his post:
"Mouthpieces wear out for several possible reasons:
1. The more you use your mouthpiece the quicker it wears out. This occurs as a result of the reed's vibration against the mouthpiece rails. In fact the reed acts like an abrasive and gradually bevels the rails inward, making what we call "rail tilt"."
"3. Misuse can cause a mouthpiece to wear out. Swabbing with bad swabs or any kind of abrasive material can cause damage."
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Author: Ursa
Date: 2016-01-05 14:12
Thank you, everyone, for your well-considered responses.
Mark makes a good point about an asymmetrical embouchure. Between uneven teeth, an asymmetric lower jaw formation, and differences in muscle tension as the result of a stroke, asymmetry is the likely culprit here. It's always the side rail on the right side of the window that wears more than the left.
Per the advice given in Stein's "The Art Of Clarinet Playing", I take great care not to touch the tip or side rails of my mouthpieces. I do wad up a corner of my silk swab and use that to clean out the bore up to the beginning of the window, then run cold tap water through from the tenon end to rinse out the baffle area, and find that this is all the cleaning I need to do. I also use plastic mouthpiece caps exclusively.
And so yet another mouthpiece safari will begin--this time for a crystal or metal/ebonite job. Hopefully I'll soon be able to just worry about reeds, and not trashed facings.
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2016-01-05 14:45
Good luck on the crystal mouthpiece search. Since they aren't refaced expect a longer time and expect to go through a lot more to find that one that clicks with you, but as said above, take care of it and it'll last forever.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: Ursa
Date: 2016-01-05 22:53
Mojo: My main piece, a Chedeville-blank Coast X4, was refaced just a couple of years ago. It's already starting to degrade, and it makes me just sick to think about a once-perfect mouthpiece, one that is treasured and treated with the utmost care, needing another reface so soon. I thought I was set for life with this one. Yes, I could send it out for a touch-up. But every two or three years? Will it still work with my clarinet and my stockpile of reeds when it comes back? Will it be just as good as before? Don't I have enough to worry about already as a working musician?
A Pomarico Ruby Bright has been ordered.
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Author: Grabnerwg
Date: 2016-01-05 23:13
A good quality hard rubber mouthpiece should last quite a few years. Something else must be going on here besides normal wear and tear.
One thing to check - if that white stuff (calcium I suspect) builds up on the tip rail or the side rails, the mouthpiece will feel more and more unstable.
I once had a customer send a mouthpiece here for refacing, and he was right, it played pretty back. However, once I cleaned it and scraped the white stuff off, the mouthpiece responded beautifully. So please check that before you replace the mouthpiece or send it off for an expensive reface.
You can soak the tip of the mouthpiece in white vinegar or lemon juice for an hour or so. It will not harm the rubber. The white stuff will soften and you can scrape it off with a thumbnail.
Walter Grabner
www.clarinetxpress.com
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Author: Matt74
Date: 2016-01-06 01:55
Greg, it says you play tuba. In school I knew some low brass players who took methods class and started out on #4 reeds, and then complained it was too easy to blow! (Probably a lot of "machismo" going on there.) You did say that you play at "extreme" dynamics. Maybe you are blowing harder than the mouthpiece can handle.
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Author: Ursa
Date: 2016-01-06 06:40
Matt, your story made me chuckle. Taking double-reeds methods class as a Music Ed major with the low brass family as my main instruments, I was amazed at how easy the bassoon was for me, while everyone else in the class struggled mightily to get a few wimpy grunts out of one.
I did, however, start my wind instrument journey as a clarinetist--unless you consider cheap plastic recorders to be serious musical instruments. And while I can indeed blow like The Big Bad Wolf and play Vandoren Traditional 4,0 reeds on a variety of mouthpieces, I'd rather not work quite THAT hard...
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Author: fuzzystradjazz
Date: 2016-01-06 07:05
Ursa: I moved to crystal several years ago, and only wish I had made the move sooner. I love my crystal (so much so that I bought two extras "just in case").
Kilo: I actually own a metal Selmer (clarinet) mouthpiece - I think it is the HS**, but I can't remember for sure - I'd have to go dig it out of storage. I used to play metal mouthpieces on my tenor sax and loved the sound (Bobby Dukoff)...However, I really don't like the sound produced by the metal Selmer clarinet mouthpiece.
Fuzzy
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Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2016-01-06 12:41
I've bought some pretty ugly Kasper and Chedeville mouthpieces on ebay. Scratched facings, chipped tips, the rails were a mess, I've kind of seen it all. Most of them I fixed, refaced, fixed the nicks, polished them up, made them look pretty darn good.
I then sold them, but not on ebay. To other musicians that wanted them.
Before junking a mouthpiece have it looked at by someone good. Sometimes within just a few minutes of a masters touch a mouthpiece can come back to life.
I totally agree that mouthpieces change from simply taking a reed on and off for a year or so. After several years the rails become rounded and should be refaced. They surely won't measure correctly.
Forgot to add that I use industrial diamonds to put facings on so I am able to reface crystal, such as Pomarico and metal mouthpieces. Takes a tad longer, but it's not a problem.
Designer of - Vintage 1940 Cicero Mouthpieces and the La Vecchia mouthpieces
Yamaha Artist 2015
Post Edited (2016-01-06 13:03)
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Author: Ed
Date: 2016-01-06 20:43
While I know that mouthpieces do wear, that level of wear seems extreme. I have had some mouthpieces that I have played for many years. Most of the time a little reface will bring the mouthpiece back. If there is need to do a lot of work, sometimes the baffle will need to be adjusted to compensate.
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Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2016-01-06 22:03
Ed, a lot of the wear is often caused by carelessness from the players. Examples are dropping the mouthpiece, (MP) putting the ligature on before the reed, can surely scratch the facing, all sorts of things can go wrong. But in general I do agree with you. A 60 year old Kasper and Chedeville, or MP's that are that old really need to be looked at. If a player has an accident with the MP very often it can be fixed, sometimes it will play better than when it was new. It's a long story, so I won't get into it, but I don't use the 5 feeler gauges and the glass that you can buy from places like Babbitt. They work. But I invented some pretty cool measuring devices and because of this my facings are often better than the factory mouthpieces and custom set for the players. Same with the bores and baffles.
Designer of - Vintage 1940 Cicero Mouthpieces and the La Vecchia mouthpieces
Yamaha Artist 2015
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Author: knotty
Date: 2016-01-06 22:18
Bob Bernardo, I've wondered, in refacing mpc's, do you ever get someone who does not like the new mpc configuration and what can be done about it? I realize it's something like cutting a board too short, you can't replace that which was taken off.
Thanks!
~ Musical Progress: None ~
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Author: Ursa
Date: 2016-01-07 04:20
Update: I've taken up the subject with Mr. Grabner via e-mail and concluded that the ebonite in my vintage Chedeville and Selmer mouthpieces has become destabilized, and not capable of holding a facing for very long.
Sadly, it's time to retire my old friends. They'll sit atop the unplayable and unfixable vintage clarinets on display in my studio--the ones I teach proper clarinet assembly and disassembly with.
I'll be on a Portnoy BP01, purchased from the WWBW showroom in South Bend right before it closed, until my Pomarico Ruby and K14e arrive.
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Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2016-01-07 06:10
Knotty, good question. not yet...I'm sure the day may come, but not since 1984.
Designer of - Vintage 1940 Cicero Mouthpieces and the La Vecchia mouthpieces
Yamaha Artist 2015
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