 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2024-05-30 18:16
It seems to be a trend to see clarinets (and saxes) coming in without a mouthpiece cap, or there's one present but it's not being used. Has it become a trend not to use them? Or do some players lose them and just don't bother replacing them?
The whole point of a mouthpiece cap is to protect the reed and tip rail of the mouthpiece, but mouthpieces even with the reeds attached are often left rattling about in the case and more disturbing is seeing saxes coming in with the mouthpiece placed tip downwards in its compartment or loose in the accessories compartment without the cap (or guard) fitted to protect it.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Ed
Date: 2024-05-30 18:59
Maybe I am old fashioned, but I think a cap is essential. I will add that a deal breaker for me is the various newfangled ligatures that require some funky cap contraption that protects only the tip of the the reed and mouthpiece. I want a fairly traditional cap that offers more protection and I want it to be secure.
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Author: ruben
Date: 2024-05-30 19:11
The trouble is that practically every new ligature requires a different cap and the ligatures are sold without caps. Sometimes they sell matching caps; that are almost as expensive as the ligatures. Why don't they come up with some kind of flexible cloth glovelike cap that would slip onto anything?
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2024-05-30 19:22
I buy mouthpiece caps in bulk from Ebay, They fit almost anything.
Tony F.
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2024-05-30 19:33
The leather cap made by Vandoren for the Vandoren Leather ligature, will pretty much fit any inverted ligature type and many standard ligatures (non-inverted). Same goes for the Zac Ligature cap.......though I can't find it on their website. I got one at the Clarinet Fest in Orlando some years ago direct from Zac Ligatures.
...................Paul Aviles
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Author: Tom H
Date: 2024-05-30 22:25
I haven't noticed anyone I play with not using a cap. I use a metal one with the holes in the top taped over to keep the reed moist (and not warped) during intermissions at our concerts or breaks at our rehearsals.
The Most Advanced Clarinet Book--
tomheimer.ampbk.com/ Sheet Music Plus item A0.1001315, Musicnotes product no. MB0000649.
Boreal Ballad for unaccompanied clarinet-Sheet Music Plus item A0.1001314.
Musicnotes product no. MNO287475
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Author: Dan Shusta
Date: 2024-05-30 22:33
Paul,
The Zac ligature cap is now available to order on their website.
To get the right cap, they ask 7 questions. After answering them, then the correct cap is shown.
1. Instrument (BB clarinet)
2. Typology (Mouthpiece cap)
3. Mouthpiece material (Leather is the only one listed)
4. Color (6 colors are available)
5. Mouthpiece type (Ebonite, Crystal, Other)
6. Brand (7 listed plus Other)
7. Model (3 listed plus Standard plus Other)
https://www.zacligature.com/en/pagine/dettaglio/menu_principale,3/buy_online,3.html
Post Edited (2024-05-31 00:18)
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2024-05-31 00:22
A trend since when?
I see this occasionally, but not more than say a decade ago.
I don't remember well enough to say if it almost never happened 20 years ago...
Unless you mean a trend in the last few decades?
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2024-05-31 00:40
I think maybe you repair guys are seeing a skewed demographic. When I send an instrument in for repair I chose a tank of a case, make sure it is empty EXCEPT for the the clarinet and NEVER include a mouthpiece. Maybe the folks who leave a mouthpiece in an instrument case for repair throw in something from their reserve drawer in case the tech doesn't have one (or just feels one should be there).
maybe
And thanks Dan for the link. I may get another since mine is older now, and it is a copy of the Vandoren. A copy that actually works a little better!
.........Paul Aviles
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Author: lydian
Date: 2024-05-31 03:09
I think it started here (skip to 1:46)
https://youtu.be/HFMr6PgPT18
Mouthpiece caps are for wimps. If you can’t play broken reeds on chipped mouthpieces, you need to switch to trumpet. I threw my caps away a long time ago. Heck, who even needs a reed guard or instrument case. Just let that thing roll around in the back of your pickup on your way to your symphony gig.
On a serious note, if this really is a trend, it’s rooted in ignorance and stupidity. Who in their right mind wouldn’t protect the most delicate part of their instrument.
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Author: kdk
Date: 2024-05-31 04:17
The only people I've noticed not using caps are other teachers' students. I co-conduct a high school youth band in my area, and a lot of the kids don't have caps with them.
I've never noticed anyone in ay of the adult groups I play in not using a cap.
I've always nagged my students to use them.
Karl
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Author: SecondTry
Date: 2024-05-31 07:05
Now I know a lot of you have had some pretty heated debates about which ligature truly makes for the best sound, including the materials it's designed out of, its shape, contact points, etc. but personally I have found that it really isn't the ligature, or mouthpiece, or even reed or player that makes the player.
Heck, practice, proper study, technique: all wasted approaches.
Instead, it is amazing what a difference in the color, shape, and pitch of my play is achieved by switching between my leather, plastic and metal mouthpiece CAPS.
If a reed is a bit to soft my leather cap is best. Metal is best for the more resistant reed.
And a metal mouthpiece cap made of cryogenic metal...now there's the ticket.
Ok--that was sass. In reality, mouthpiece caps protect the mouthpiece and reed, and keep the latter, at least when it's made of cane, moist. I try to use them almost as much as the time the mouthpiece is away from my mouth, including when the instrument is disassembled.
In my next life I will market the beginner (and this is serious) mouthpiece/ligature combo where one pushes a spring loaded mouthpiece cap connected to the ligature out of the way to the side with the mouth and plays.
Take the instrument away from the mouth and the cap immediately goes back in place, protecting that reed.
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Author: Dan Shusta
Date: 2024-05-31 08:14
OK,
I can see how a metal or a thick, hard plastic cap could prevent a mouthpiece tip from being chipped, but leather? Wouldn't it have to be quite stiff?
How does leather protect the tip from chipping if the clarinet tip falls against a metal chair?
Post Edited (2024-05-31 10:28)
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Author: Julian ibiza
Date: 2024-05-31 10:18
I think the problem with these caps is not so much in how they go on... but in how badly they go off. Why don't they just sell them ready charged with gunpowder? ....is it because they might go off in the back of my pickup?
Julian Griffiths
Tel. 34 696 798 853
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Author: mozartklar
Date: 2024-05-31 16:54
Caps are absolutely essential. I use mine every single time I'm practicing/performing. I would look at this as yet another example of companies seeking to raise the price while offering less. For my part, I would love if they made them out of something other than flimsy plastics.
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Author: Slowoldman
Date: 2024-05-31 17:27
But plastic makes less noise than metal when someone drops one in the middle of a performance! :(
Amateur musician, retired physician
Delaware Valley Wind Symphony, clarinet 1
Bucks County Symphony Orchestra, clarinet 2 (sub)
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Author: SecondTry
Date: 2024-05-31 19:19
Has anyone tried the Legere mouthpiece cap?
Ok..sure, it's more expensive than the cane mouthpiece cap, and maybe not as good as your best cane mouthpiece cap, but it's consistent and last much longer.
;)
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