Parts of the clarinet No. 1 of 5 – Mouthpiece, Reeds & Ligatures
The clarinet is made up of five connecting parts, the mouthpiece, barrel, upper joint, lower joint, and bell. Each part is fitted and aligned to one another a cork-covered tenon. There are four cork-covered tenons that hold the five parts of the clarinet tightly together. The connected five parts make the clarinet…
Mouthpiece
The mouthpiece is the top part of the clarinet, which holds the reed and in general determines the tone color or sound of the clarinet. Mouthpieces have different facings.. the facing is how far the reed is from the tip of the mouthpiece and the curve of the opening. They are infinite…
The most commonly used materials for the mouthpieces are Hard Rubber (Considered by most makers and players to be the best material) and Plastic (Used in most student mouthpieces, there are a few professional mouthpieces that use plastic for the tone)
Other materials include Glass (Played by many clarinetist), metal and wood (The original clarinet mouthpieces were of course made from wood, not very common today).
*There are hundreds of different mouthpiece makers in the world today… The mouthpiece has 2 other part necessary to produce the tone. The reed and ligature…
The Reed
Reeds come in many different strengths (How hard the reed is: #2, #2.5, #3, #3.5, #4, #4.5, #5 being the most common). The way the reed is cut, the length of the reed are generally set by the makers and are chosen to work with the mouthpiece and player…. The reed material has traditionally been cane but there are many good synthetic reed on the market today.
The Ligature
The ligature holds the reed in place on the mouthpiece and is a big influence on how the reed vibrates. The ligature can control the sound, response and how the clarinet feels to the player.
Again, there are hundreds of clarinet ligatures made today…..