What kind of mouthpiece do you play?

There is a joke about two clarinet players meeting each other for the first time, and instead of asking "how are you" or "what is your name", they ask "what kind of mouthpiece do you play?"

In addition to revealing a bit of characteristic nurdiness, this joke also hints at just how important the mouthpiece is to the success of clarinet playing. And choice of mouthpiece for a young student can make a huge difference in their comfort level and progress.

And a good mouthpiece can be found without stressing the parents' wallet. When I read the following words by renowned clarinetist and mouthpiece maker Mike Lomax, I realized that I couldn't have said it any better, and I hope every band director also reads it:

"CLARINET MOUTHPIECES AND THE YOUNG STUDENT"

"Many years ago some well-meaning but ill informed educator put forth the notion that the ideal clarinet mouthpiece on which to start a young student was the Vandoren B45. It would be very interesting to know if this individual was a clarinetist or not, but I suspect we will never know the answer to that question. In this brief article I would like to set forth what I believe to be a better path for the young student concerning their choice of a clarinet mouthpiece.

The problem with the Vandoren B45 clarinet mouthpiece with regard to the young student is not one of manufacture. The Vandoren Company is one of the oldest and most highly respected makers in the industry. The problem with this mouthpiece and the young student lies with the facing, or more specifically the tip opening. The B45 mouthpiece has a tip opening of approximately 1.20mm. This tip opening, for the American School of Clarinet Playing, is considered on the open end of the classical mouthpiece spectrum. The vast majority of classical clarinetists in the United States are playing on mouthpieces with tip openings of 1.01mm – 1.110mm. There is a very good reason for this. When you use a mouthpiece with an open tip such as the B45 it is necessary to use a softer reed such as a No. 2 ½ or 3. When you play a softer reed on a more open mouthpiece, you have a combination that gives great flexibility of pitch as well as a tone quality that tends to be on the brighter side, with less core and focus. This setup actually requires a more developed embouchure on the part of the player, something that the young student does not have. If the young student tries to control the pitch and color of the sound with their undeveloped embouchure, they usually resort to what is called “biting.” This creates bad habits that can seriously hamper future progress.

The path I would set forth is one that has been traveled by the vast majority of classical clarinetists in this country. This approach uses a mouthpiece with a closer tip opening in the range set forth above of 1.01mm – 1.10mm, and the use of a stronger reed No. 3 ½ or 4. With this combination the young student has equipment that gives him much more stability of pitch and a sound with greater core and focus, resulting in a much rounder, warmer, darker sound. Most importantly for the young student, this setup promotes the development of a sound embouchure which goes hand in hand with proper articulation.

As I mentioned at the beginning, the problem is not with the manufacturer; rather, it lies in the choice of the more open mouthpiece. If the instructor wants to have the student play on a Vandoren mouthpiece, I would suggest trying the M15, 5RV Lyre, or M30. These are mouthpieces with a range of tip openings from 1.01mm – 1.10mm. This allows the young student to enjoy the advantages of greater stability of pitch and tonal focus of the closer facer and stronger reed combination. "

There are several inexpensive clarinet mouthpieces now available for the young student.

The Andino by Lomax is a bargain, and plays better than many professional mouthpieces. It is hand-faced, very responsive, and gives the student stability and focus in their sound. Stability and focus means more relaxed playing, and fewer bad habits. It is available from Andino clarinet dealers. Andino is a division of Gemstone musical instruments, which also includes Gemeinhardt flutes, W.Schreiber clarinets and oboes, Stephanhouser saxes, W.Nirschl brass, Artisan strings, Weril brass, Sankyo flutes, Brio flutes, and Trevor James flutes and saxes.

Water Water Everywhere

We clarinetists know how frustrating it is to play a long lyrical passage from the Debussy Rhapsody with a clarion Bb that sounds like you became the world’s flutter tongue expert.
@#%&*%# ! The dreaded water in side keys!
With a little analysis, and changing of habits we can actually prevent this occurrence. No, I’m not talking about psychotherapy, although that may be necessary also. I’m talking about condensation, and what that water does inside the clarinet.
For years, I’ve watched some of the greatest players in the world do everything in their power to guarantee that water will come out side key toneholes. Then in a flurry of activity, I see swabbing, flying cigarette paper, and sounds that would humble an air compressor at a discount tire store.
If we take a moment to look at what is really happening, we see that water will condense in the bore of the clarinet. We cannot prevent it. It’s nature’s joke on us. We can however, keep the water away from the side key toneholes in the first place.

What do you do with the clarinet when taking a break from practicing? If you set it on a table with the open holes down, it is obvious where the water is going. Always put the clarinet with the RH side keys up. It is held easily in this position by the thumb-rest and left-hand F key. It’s not even necessary to swab.
Clarinets adopt habits of their own. (maybe they are the ones in need of psychotherapy). When counting rests, get in the habit of holding the clarinet at an angle, open tone holes up (rotated with the RH side keys slightly higher), bell on knee, barrel on shoulder. Once water forms a path in a certain direction, it will follow it again and again. So the solution, is to get the water to go where we want it to go.

In that flurry of activity, how do you swab? If you drop the weight in the bell, and pull it through to finish at the barrel, you are spreading water in random patterns in the upper joint, and forming numerous tracks to every tone-hole. The goal must be for the water to stay in the bottom of the bore (thumbrest side) and run in a single stream out the bell. Always swab from the barrel to the bell, so that the trickle, stream, river, whatever, is encouraged to follow a single track out the bell. When condensation runs out the bell this is a good sign!

Does your clarinet have a hard time breaking bad habits? You can start with a clean slate by lightly oiling the bore (wipe all the unabsorbed oil out) then playing for a few minutes at a time alternating with swabbing barrel to bell (clarinet assembled without mouthpiece). When the clarinet has learned what to do with condensation, the track will remain even when you put it on a clarinet peg at an orchestra gig. Your reformed habits of swabbing, how you hold the clarinet and set the clarinet down will pay off big-time the next time you play Debussy, and you will not need the cigarette paper any longer!