Back in the first week of February, I did something I’ve only done a handful of times in my life. I dropped and broke my clarinet mouthpiece! I’ve never been one to obsess about equipment–except my mouthpiece, ligature, and reed. Probably a better explanation is I find what I like and stick to it for YEARS!
I started playing clarinet at the age of 10 when I had the opportunity to join band. My parents had a used clarinet in the closet that my oldest sister had tried for a year before quitting. (She made the choice to continue in earnest with piano instead.) I think the brand name of that clarinet was a Normandy. My parents had gotten it used–probably free from someone–when my sister had used it 10 years earlier. When I came home from school after the instrument trials and told my parents I wanted to join band, they told me if I wanted to do it, I’d have to choose clarinet. They couldn’t afford to purchase a different instrument. That clarinet was in terrible condition, but I managed to learn the basics and progress until my freshman year of high school when my band director, Dr. Sharretts, encouraged my parents to purchase a new clarinet for me.
The clarinet my parents purchased at that point was a Leblanc L70. I LOVED that clarinet and could immediately hear and feel the difference. I also got a different mouthpiece at that time, but I don’t remember what the brand name was. During marching seasons, my mouthpieces were dropped and broken on several different occasions. Now that I have teenagers myself, I can imagine my parents’ frustration at having to pay for new mouthpieces then! Their financial situation was only slightly better at that point.
When I went to Olivet Nazarene University as a freshman, my private teacher (Harlow Hopkins) had me try various mouthpieces to find a better fit. At that time I found the Borbeck brand worked well for me with a Luyben clear plastic ligature and Vandoren #4 reed. I used that combination with my Leblanc L70 clarinet for the next 22 or 23 years. During those years, I broke my Borbeck mouthpieces a couple of other times, but repurchased the same brand each time.
While I was working towards my Master’s Degree a few years ago at VanderCook, I played in the Graduate Band. I hid in the 3rd clarinet section for my entire stay, but while there, I had some truly eye-opening experiences while listening to Charlie Menghini and Stacy Larson as they conducted and taught. As you might expect, most of the participants of the graduate band were band directors themselves. I had only been teaching as an assistant band director for one year at that point myself and had much to relearn (and learn–still do!). During one rehearsal in particular, I remember Dr. Menghini talked about the importance of making sure students had good equipment to help them develop to their fullest potential without frustration. Possibly for everyone else in the room at the moment, that was a “duh!” moment, but for me, that was the beginning of thought processes considering the implications for my own clarinet playing. By the way, at the same time I was in the Intro to Grad Studies class taught be Roseanne Rosenthal where I was learning more about the implications of practicing at a young age, muscle memory, etc. I was also seeing the payoff of all of those ideas in the progression of two of my nephews who play violin and cello. I also began reading some truly fascinating (to me!) books concerning mental focus, positive thinking, creativity, practicing, etc. However, those are all topics for other posts.
When I graduated from VanderCook in the summer of 2006, my husband encouraged me as a graduation gift to purchase a new professional model clarinet. In August, 2006, I received my new Buffet R-13! My new teacher, Fred Lewis, helped me with the purchase and we began lessons. I remember taking the clarinet out of the box during my first lesson. I had picked up the clarinet from Fred’s shop (Lewis Flute and Piccolo Shop in Villa Park) the week before, but kept putting it, case and all, back into the packing box!!! I think I was afraid… As I played that clarinet with my old mouthpiece/ligature/reed combination, I got some really strange sounds. I could barely control it that first week. It was pretty awful, and that’s not false modesty talking! I gradually improved and became extremely happy with that combination. Notice, though, that I was stubbornly holding on to the old Borbeck mouthpiece!
Fast forward to February 2, 2009, Elmhurst College and Community Wind Ensemble rehearsal. I was putting my clarinet away in Hammerschmidt Chapel when my mouthpiece slipped out of my hand and fell to the tile floor. We had the Winter Graduation concert the following Sunday, so my heart felt like it stopped momentarily. When I picked up my Borbeck mouthpiece from where it had rolled, my worst fears were realized. The top corner had chipped off!!! The next morning, I called Woodwind Brasswind at my earliest break to order a new Borbeck….They didn’t have one in stock!!!!!! Fred was out of town for the week, so I was on my own. Keep in mind that I’m not one to keep up with the latest on mouthpieces, instruments, barrels, reeds, etc. I just want to play! 
Fortunately, I remembered that Fred had talked about a particular mouthpiece during his Woodwind Methods class at VanderCook as well as during my lessons. (I think over the months he may have been trying to gently lead me away from my stubborn attachment to the Borbeck!) I knew I HAD to have a workable mouthpiece by the following Sunday, so I ordered the Vandoren M13 mouthpiece that Fred had told me about on several occasions. With “overnight” shipping, I had the new mouthpiece in hand by the time I got home from school on Thursday afternoon.
I can’t say that I noticed an immediate change in tone quality, but my intonation was different. With the Borbeck, I had struggled with consistently sharp playing. I always had to pull out at every joint to play in tune over the range of the instrument. Even still, there were several notes that were particularly problematic. With the new Vandoren M13, I noticed right away that even though I started off slightly flat, after warming up, the instrument played in tune much more consistently across the full range. The problem pitches were also much better!
I was still unsure as to my liking of the tone quality until I had my first lesson with Fred after a couple of months of not seeing him. Circumstances has precluded scheduling and keeping a lesson date until just last Friday. I’ve never completely liked my tone quality in Fred’s little studio. The carpet and smallness of the room, etc always made my tone sound quite “dead” to my ears. I much prefer hearing the reverberation in my wood-floor living room! However, on Friday, using the new Vandoren M13, I heard a new aliveness in my tone quality that I’d never heard in that room before!
Time will tell how much more improvement I’ll be able to experience in my playing. I am, after all, a 43 year-old who never fully developed her technique when younger. I’m happy to say, though, that breaking that Borbeck mouthpiece almost two months ago may have been a blessing in disguise!
