Author: Chris P
Date: 2024-02-25 00:51
Whatever you do, DON'T go for a mouthpiece tip opening and reed strength to match what you use on sax as they are both polar opposite instruments even if they do both use a single reed mouthpiece.
There is a trend especially for older sax players who come to clarinet late in their playing life to want a setup that's just as easy and free blowing as the setup they use on sax and using the same slack embouchure, so they end up sounding flabby as well as being as flat as a pancake, then they blame the clarinet and have their barrel shortened by up to 10mm in some extreme cases in a bid to bring their clarinet up to pitch, when it does nothing but ruin the scale of the instrument.
Stick with the stock length barrel and use a mouthpiece that most clarinettists will use, so something with a tip opening of between 1.10mm to 1.15mm maximum and use the reed strength that suits you best and not what everyone else is using.
And most importantly, have clarinet lessons from a clarinet teacher who is a seasoned clarinettist whose primary (or sole) instrument is clarinet as opposed to from a sax player/teacher who does the rounds and plays some clarinet and flute just to get by when it comes to doubling work and teaches the bad habits they've learnt.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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The Clarinet BBoard
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