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Re: Why Cover Mouthpiece

Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2019-04-23 17:23

I think it's more important to get kids in their bands to use mouthpiece caps than it is for an adult who principally (or only) plays at home. Kids are spectacularly careless about waving their instruments around in the air when walking from place to place or standing around and socializing before rehearsals/concerts and during breaks. They're more likely to brush the mouthpiece and reed against their own clothing or someone else's who is sitting next to them. So, I always encourage the clarinet and sax players in the bands I teach to use caps.

I use a cap as way to slow the drying process during long orchestral rests or while the conductor tinkers with some other section than the clarinets or woodwinds (I don't bother with caps when I'm playing on synthetic reeds.) I also find using the cap when the clarinet is packed away to be the easiest way to keep the mouthpiece from rolling around inside the case. The mouthpiece cutouts are shaped and sized to include the cap.

BGBG, you probably don't need to bother with a mouthpiece cap if you don't want to. If you do need to leave the clarinet for a few minutes and find that the reed has dried out a little when you come back, you can always re-wet it.

Karl

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