Update! learned something after posting this video: have a quick 2-minute read here: www.earspasm.com/blog/2023/4/18/student-bass-clarinet-mouthpieces-an-update
I can hardly wait for this video! :) I teach Clarinet Sectionals at a local middle school. And the Bass Clarinets are having a lot of difficult playing across the break into the upper register. So I told them I would recommend some mouthpieces for them. This is all excellent information. (I play on a Clark Fobes NOVA Bass Clarinet mouthpiece).
Fun fact: all Fobes Debut mouthpieces are finished by hand, meaning the measurements are double checked, and certain tweaks are made that can't be done by machine in the factory. This is a step most student (and even professional) mouthpiece makers don't take. Funner fact: I am the person that does this!
Clark Fobes products are incredible. I play at the orchestra with the Nova model...an "intermediate" model (priced like a Vandoren) that plays way better than all the vandos I've tried
I play in a college band that allows community members (small state school). Never switched from my Yamaha 4C after high school (I'm now 30). Last year I bought a Syos with a more open tip and I never realized how much of a huge difference a mouthpiece can make. I liked the mouthpiece comparison video concept. You should do a blind test of a bunch of mouthpieces and pick one. It would be interesting to see what you think without knowing what you're playing.
A friend was asked to double on bass clarinet in a theatre pit band. He found it hard work. It was a student level Yamaha instrument (In a hot Australian summer try keeping that down to A440) and a Yamaha 4C mouthpiece. He struggled with the bottom end and there was no altissimo. I loaned him my Schagerl "came with the horn" mouthpiece and he realised the problems were not of his own making. For my playing I use a Vandoren B46 or a Greg Wier Custom, but it's nice to have the Schagerl to fall back on.
One thing that does strike me is that very few students start out on bass clarinet. Rather they come to it after they've played a soprano for awhile and therefore are more likely to have, say, a 7th grade embouchure than a 4th grade embouchure. Also, good (IMHO) band directors don't put a student on bass clarinet because they are weak on the soprano. Far better for the student and the band to give the bass to a student who plays the soprano pretty decently -- maybe even (again IMO) a student who has been taking private lessons and shown interest in the clarinet and band as more than a just a social activity. The versatility may come in useful for the student down the line. Of course I'm assuming the bass clarinet is in decent shape. Otherwise, all bets are off. All that said, I would still expect the Fobes and Backun mouthpieces to lead the pack. (One other totally unrelated opinion. Any band director who marches a bass clarinet should be fired for incompetence!)
Is it normal for my new mouthpiece to smell like crap. It’s brand new but it smells like burnt rubber it’s almost impossible to play cause it smells so bad.
Great video and personal confirmation! Looks like I chose wisely when choosing my mouthpiece for my Kessler Custom Midnight Low C Bass Clarinet. I play it with a 2.5 reed as well! We don't need to talk about what type of reed tho (cough cough...artificial...cough cough). 🙄😂
Any comments about the Mouthpiece that comes with a Buffet Bass (or used to, haven't bought a Buffet Bass since my 1193 in 95), it's made by Ernst Schreiber in Germany as far as I know (ESM)...
I am considering one of the Vandoren "B" series mouthpieces, but have you tested a Clark Fobes Nova bass mouthpiece? Anything to compare it to, or would I be better off getting a different mouthpiece in that price range?
Howarth of London has them. That's where I bought mine (which ist my main piece on Bass, perfekt for a Woodwind doubler). That was before the Brexit though.
This video is only half helpful😂 I needed a moderate quality student mouthpiece but his thoughts on the reed strengths wouldn’t be so applicable. Been playing sax for 8 years and clarinet for 3. I don’t think I have 4th grade embouchure.
Normalized Audio, You are assuming the person buying the mouthpiece is willing to take it to a mouthpiece technician for refacing (or capable of doing a good refacing job themself). That's not a likely scenario. For most beginners, the mouthpiece that plays well out of the box is the best choice (not the mouthpiece that doesn't play well but has the potential to be made good in the hands of a skilled craftsman).
I have more than one Fobes Debut, and find that its being made of acrylic instead of hard rubber makes essentially no difference. I do have some of his professional hard rubber mouthpieces too, and they're superb. But frankly, I'd be hard pressed to say that they're appreciably better than the Debut.
