Re: Clarinet mouthpieces

[khupe <khupe...>]

Margot wrote:

>   I personally don't believe one needs a different mouthpiece or reed to play
> klezmer [...] because ultimately, whatever you use, you
> have to be able to do everything on it.  

I second that - it's the musician who makes the sound, not the mouthpiece. And
yet: if you feel like developing your sound, looking for different mouthpieces
can be very helpful. It also depends on the variety of styles you're playing -
I personally can't imagine playing jazz on a classical mouthpiece anymore, and
vice versa. Most klezmer clarinetists I know play something in between a jazz
and a more classical mouthpiece, but you can be pretty wrong if you wanna tell
by listening. There are also players who like a more balkan/greek/turkish
orientated sound, very open tip and light reeds, Tarras sounded pretty much
like that, and Andy Statman does. Anyhow, it's a very personal thing, and if
you take someone else's material and play it, you will still have your own
sound in the first place.
I'm playing an Otto Link jazz mouthpiece on C clarinet (though I don't sound
too jazzy on it), on B flat a Bucchi 3 glass for Jazz and a custom made
Ignatio Genusa for classical music, Vandoren B 46 and a self-manufactured one
on bass clarinet. Reeds are made by Marianne Rieckhoff (switzerland). My
clarinets are Buffet prestige.

Christian Dawid
clarinetist with Khupe and Sukke (Berlin), 
toured with Brave Old World, will be touring with Budowitz

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