Show us Your Mouthpiece!
This week, I wanted to ask you: what mouthpiece do you play? Have you always played the same one? Have you ever considered upgrading your mouthpiece? Share a photo of your mouthpiece (or mouthpieces!) in the comments, I'd love to see them :)
I'd also love to know if a livestream on choosing a new mouthpiece would be helpful or interesting to you. If you've been playing the same mouthpiece for a long time, or if you never made the 'upgrade' on what came with your clarinet, there are a lot of reasons to experiment a bit with mouthpieces and I'd be happy to show you everything I've learned in 30 years of trying them out!
I've made a short video for this week's discussion to show you my mouthpieces, and to talk about some new developments here at tonebase clarinet: I am back as the Head of the Clarinet Community here at tonebase and I've got a *ton* of exciting livestreams, challenges and intensives planned for this summer. So I hope you'll join me! If you're new to the community, I'm looking forward to getting to know you here. As I say in the video: I'm always available on the forum - or you can e-mail me ([email protected]) any time to discuss things you'd like to see on the community or to talk about what you're working on!
6 replies
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Hi Heather!
I’m really excited to be part of what you have planned for us this summer!
My current mouthpiece is a Gleichweit B7-4 that I got a year ago, on the recommendation of a coach at my summer chamber music camp. It is precise and has a beautiful rich sound. Mine is plastic but they just introduced a hard rubber model. There is a range of options—close, medium and open and they are generous with trial boxes of five. It’s very compatible with my Legere 4 French cuts.
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Soprano Mouthpieces L - R: Vandoren M13 (in current use), Marcellus 08, Selmer HS*, Charles Bay (of historical interest, as it was made by Bay himself; he was my first teacher's teacher, I think), Bass Mouthpieces L - R: first two 3D printed by Walter Grabner, former bass clarinetist with the Toledo Symphony (unfortunately he has retired from the mouthpiece business), Clark Fobes San Francisco RR model. On soprano, the M13 is the freest blowing and has a "fatter" sound than the others. I play Vandoren Blue Box 2-1/2 reeds. Both Grabner bass mouthpieces are wonderful, but the black one has a slightly more curved facing and tip opening and produces a darker sound in the chalumeau register for me. Voicing is also a bit easier. I typically played Blue Box 2-1/2 reeds on bass, but I find the Vandoren 2-1/2 V12 has a richer sound and is more responsive. I plan to try stepping up to the 3 V12, but may need the gold mouthpiece for that. The Fobes did not work well for me. While the bass mouthpieces were a self-inflicted wound (which Grabner healed!), I had noted on soprano a new teacher = new mouthpiece rule. Has anyone else had that experience? FYI, these guys were not in the mouthpiece business that I know of.
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It did see over the years that with almost every teacher I ended up with a new mouthpiece. As regards, Walter Grabner, he was 3D-printing his mouthpieces in his basement (I live 45 - 60 minutes from him depending on traffic). A friend suggested I try him, so during the pandemic I met him in his driveway and gave him my bass for a few days. He sent me back with four mouthpieces he thought I should try, and I bought these two. Unfortunately, he retired from the mouthpiece business as of the end of 2024. I got mine I think in 2021, and I believe he was exclusively 3D-printing them. I don't know whether he sold the product line to anyone else, but his website is/was. www.clarinetxpress.com. Walter is a wonderful fellow, easy to deal with, kind and generous with his time. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news!
