Author: JMcAulay
Date: 2002-02-13 19:14
Let me try again. It is impractical to write both well and briefly of a complex subject, so here's a lot more verbage. Perhaps it will help. As you read this, remember that I am not an authority, just someone who has gone through the process and expects to do it again after buying my next new instrument.
Melissa, I have never heard you play. I do not know your tonal abilities, I don't know what kind(s) of music you like to play, I don't know what shortcomings (if any) you might be trying to overcome. What I do know is that without a whole lot more knowledge, I could not realistically make any suggestion of a specific mouthpiece for you. Just maybe, the Whizzbang ZX12 could be the greatest thing you could possibly play on. On the other hand, perhaps your technique, embouchure, and style of play are such that a Vito V2 would be better -- a lot cheaper, too. Stein devotes more than an entire quarto page to the importance of mouthpiece selection and how to do it, but not once does he mention any make or model. His suggestions on how to check out a mouthpiece are, perhaps, the most compact and useful ever set on paper. It's probably a very good idea to read his words before embarking on the selection process. If you do not have a copy, maybe you could consider its $12.95 cost as a sort of "tax" on the mouthpiece.
If you have a teacher you can trust, by all means ask for a recommendation. If you have a teacher you can't trust, why? First get a different teacher, *then* ask for a recommendation. Recommendation from someone who knows how you play can be very important, because you might improve considerably by being "led" in the right direction. If you don't have a teacher, you're stuck with the drag of sorting out wheat from chaff with a table full of mouthpieces in front of you. And this is not an exercise that should be tried by any inexperienced player. Such a person wouldn't be able to tell the differences well enough and sort them out properly to make a useful intelligent selection.
If you ask to try a mouthpiece before buying it and the store people laugh at you, just shake your head disgustedly, wave a wad of money in their faces, and walk out. Such a place is rather like an automobile dealer that will not allow you to test drive a car. I would not wish to buy anything from such a store. As Mark says, some really will let you test mouthpieces, and if you can't find a store that will do it in your area, some mail-order places will oblige, under special conditions. Such as if you don't return something within a certain time, or if you damage anything, you bought 'em. Sanitizing the mouthpieces is not a significant problem, and the use of a thin cushion on the top of the beak will prevent marring the item while testing it.
Obviously, it's best to start out with *some* ideas of the type of mouthpiece you might like. For example, if you enjoy playing on a Vandoren B45, there is little need to try mouthpieces that are vastly different in configuration. Try those with similar general design parameters. You can get some ideas from The Woodwind and Brasswind catalog's reasonably good comparison chart of mouthpieces. There's no need for you to try every known mouthpiece.
Regards,
John
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The Clarinet BBoard
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