dumb ideas for the clarinet

[InBy9OutBy5]

I was always very careful with metal mouthpiece caps, not to hit the tip of the mouthpiece, though I could see that plastic would avoid damage in case I got careless. But I always preferred plastic mouthpiece caps for another reason. When someone drops their metal cap on the hard floor it makes an awful racket. Not good during a performance, especially if you are in a pit orchestra while there is dialogue or singing going on on stage. The plastic caps make a lot less noise ! ;)

[rajidae]

i totally agree with the metal myth thing.

i was seriously considering the buffet festival clarinet, but i chose an r-13 solely because the festival had the metal tenon ring. incredibly stupid idea.

[SpaceMountain77]

@rajidae not a problem if you have a Greenline Festival :P

[sticksrossi]

You wouldn't use a swab like that on a WOODEN clarinet anyway? Those things are swabs and they're used for student RESONITE clarinets!! They're not dumb!Also, the metal part of the swab is not shoved up the bore, only the fuzzy part! I think you'll agree with me to use silk swabs that you pull through. But you can also get those stuck inside! Both ways are still fine. You just have to use both styles slowly and correctly!

[billyboy647]

You're right YOU wouldn't use a swab like that on any clarinet. But students have, and they are not careful how they use it either, scratching the heck out of both wood and plastic bore clarinets.

[clarinetcola]

Hi! I bought a pair of your clarinet a few months ago(maybe a year already..), been enjoying it so far. I've never thought of that metal cap tip before! thanks for all your innovative ideas!

[billyboy647]

black will give you a darker sound ; - )

[rdraznik]

Of course. And I've used black just to repair a cracked one.

[rdraznik]

Why the blue electricians' tape on the cap, billyboy?

[billyboy647]

the blue tape it there to cover the large slit in the Rovner ligature cap. As I see it, the cap does two things: protects the reed and mouthpiece AND keeps the reed from drying out too quickly.

[billyboy647]

Good question. Here's my good answer

I designed the Opus. Opus II is also my acoustical design. But I did not have total say over every aspect of the final product. I advised against the end cap and pad washers a la the Buffet elite. Their thinking was "if Buffet does it, we have to as well." So they copied several of their non-feature features. I wanted Leblanc style in-line trill keys, but they booted that too; it had to look like a Buffet.

Nonsense. But, it wasn't my factory.

[klarinetta]

I don't know if you designed the Leblanc Opus only or also the Opus II or just the Opus II but if you did design the OpusII (I've only seen that one) then why does it have metal caps on the tenon since you say it's a dumb idea ?