What is a Good mouthpiece for improving tone quality on a clarinet?

[InstrumentManiac]

I have been playing the clarinet for a while now and I would now like to increase my tone quality. Does anyone have any recommendations for a good mouthpiece?

[Roger Aldridge]

Welcome to the Forum!

What are you currently using (clarinet, mouthpiece, reed, ligature)?

Roger

[G-dawg]

Welcome to the Forum!

What are you currently using (clarinet, mouthpiece, reed, ligature)?

Roger

And...what is your budget?

[jmoen3]

Wait clarinets can have a tone quality?! Just kidding :).

After High school with all those clarinets I was driven crazy. Then I heard some amazing jazz clarinet and my faith was renewed!

Anyhow, sorry for my rant. Best of luck with finding a good mpc. I hear that the Fobes and Vandoren MPCs are good for clarinet :).

[5537instructor]

Vandoren's are great (made for the masses)...however, they don't work for me.

Try a brand called Gigliotti. They aren't too bad pricewise ($100-150).

[nuggy86]

As other people have mentioned, a lot depends on what sort of sound you're looking for and the type of music you want to play.

Something like the vandoren B45 is a popular mouthpiece that suits most people moving from a plastic to hard rubber mouthpiece. Very easy to play and the sound is quite full.

[al9672]

Any shop nearby that you can go and try a few ?

Bootman has a vandoren for sale http://forum.saxontheweb.net/showthread.php?t=120080
and there are quite a few others in the clarinet mouthpiece for sale forum
http://forum.saxontheweb.net/forumdisplay.php?f=166

[BAjazzclarinet]

I got a Vandoren M13 recently and it has made a world of a difference. I want to say its the B45 that is another good one. Many brand name mouthpieces have offbrand counterparts and for the most part it's hard to tell the difference between the two unless you're a pro. It's always a good idea, though, to try out any mouthpiece for a couple weeks before you buy it. Many good mouthpieces can range between 50 and 80 bucks. You don't have to pay an arm and a leg though many pros do.

[muckwee]

Vandoren M13 lyre - BG super revelation ligature. That's my setup.

[milnak]

I heard the Eddie Danciels ED1 mouthpiece (by LeBlanc) and it had a really nice sound, but it's at least $150 USD.

[spike421]

Not sure what you mean by "a while", but it takes time to develop a "good" tone on clarinet, and some never do. Do you have a teacher? Although you've gotten a bunch of recommendations, just like sax, there are issues of tip openings, window size, facing length, chamber, etc. with clarinet. Any good hard rubber mouthpiece will do. As a beginner you would use something like a Selmer HS* or HS** or any hard rubber equivalant. Since you haven't told us where you are in your studies and what other instruments you play, or even what you mean by good tone, it's imposible to give a recommendation for a specific mouthpiece. Suffice it to say that clarinet players choose a variety of mouthpieces from which they produce a "good tone". As far as an off the shelf brand, I feel Vandoren products are excellent.

[bandmommy]

A different mouthpiece isn't going to help much if you haven't developed your embouchure.
Most of the 'tone quality' comes from YOU, and not your horn/mouthpiece.
Bad players sound bad using the best equipment while good players sound good playing on junk.
Unless we know where you are in your development and what you are currently using there's no way to really make any recommendations.

[al9672]

+1 to BM's post

My current favourite is a slant sig (otto link) 7, also like the ridenour HW and vandoren 5jb.

But I wouldn't touch any of those for classical or highschool playing
way to open.

Be better off with a vandorean M130 lyre or B45 ,
B45 might be a bit open for classical ?

Can get the vandorean mouthpieces fairly cheap from weinermusic.com

Also no need for a fancy ligature, the cheap under $10 ones are fine.

[al9672]

Wait clarinets can have a tone quality?! Just kidding :).

After High school with all those clarinets I was driven crazy. Then I heard some amazing jazz clarinet and my faith was renewed!

Anyhow, sorry for my rant. Best of luck with finding a good mpc. I hear that the Fobes and Vandoren MPCs are good for clarinet :).

Have a listen to the Clarinet gang for some absolutely brilliant playing / sounds/tone.

Drat looks like they forgot to renew their website
http://www.clarinetgang.com/

luckily still up on youtube

Klezmer All Star Clarinet Gang plays "The Clarinet Gang"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPM50tRYajs

Klezmer All Star Clarinet Gang plays "Noema"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9L7_RaTw6I

Klezmer All Star Clarinet Gang plays "King Waldemar"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSvTIr9eU14

Klezmer All Star Clarinet Gang plays "Naftule's leave"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjkyRpTSDvk

Klezmer All Star Clarinet Gang plays Bartok
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-AYtHFuecU