Ralph Katz

Music Equipment Page

(last edited 6/25/2019)

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As a philosophical statement, I don't like to identify equipment, but do it hypicritically here anyway.  If you think you absolutely cannot play on anything but a particular setup (instrument/mouthpiece/reed), I would ask you to reconsider. You can learn quite a bit, about tone production and general musicianship, by playing for 3 months on a different type of instrument, reed or mouthpiece. Avoid dependence; develop finesse.

Bb and A Clarinets

I have Buffet R13 Bb and A instruments, but my backup Noblet A is really a fine instrument (it worked well last year for Debussy: Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun when the R13 A broke.) 

Ligature:

Oops - now playing on a Vandoren Optimum.  I used a Bonade inverted's for decades, but changed when the last one finally wore out.

My feeling is that the best mechanical coupling of the reed to the mouthpiece will give you the most flexibility.  IMHO harder reeds and softer ligatures, which lots of people use to attempt to "darken" their sound, just muffle things and limit control and expression. Try a softer reed and relax for darkness when needed - I have seen this surprise several clarinet DMA's. A softer reed will also give the flexibility to better control your clarinet intonation, which is not as precise as for all other woodwind instruments.  You can always put on that super-hard reed to overwhelm the rest of the orchestra and kill your chops.  These are just my opinions.

Mouthpiece: Well, I was having issues in 2013, and deigned pull out the cigar box of old mouthpieces, barrels, and ligatures.  The first couple sounded pretty sweet, but then I realized that my then-current piece sounded like hell.  Upon checking, oops, it was warped.  So, I got a $31 Clark Fobes Debut, which I liked a lot, but then upgraded to the Nova, the same thing in hard rubber.  Good control of intonation across volume levels.  The Nova is much less bright thatn the Debut.  But, I met Martin Fluch of Maxton (Austria) at the 2017 Midwest Conference in Chicago, and got one of his model WB 9,5 (Wien, Boehm, 9.5mm) mouthpieces and like it a lot.

Eb Clarinets

I also have Noblet and Buffet R13 Eb's.  I got the Noblet, but then a deal come up on the Buffet that was impossible to pass up.  I got a Vandoren M15 mouthpiece for the Noblet; the Buffet came with a Walter Grabner Eb mouthpiece.  Til Eulenspiegel has more edge on the Noblet, and is much sweeter on the Buffet.  Some of this is mouthpiece, some instrument.  

I loaned the Noblet eefer to the UM Life Sciences Orchestra to use for Schostakovich Symphony No. 5, and it sounded great.  And, Larry Liberson of the Detroit Symphony says I am the only other person he knows (beside himself) that owns two Eb's.

C clarinet: Stephen Fox #02006.

Options: short barrel, center tuning ring, LH Eb/Ab, modified Stubbins register vent/throat Bb.

For Stephen Fox see: http://www.sfoxclarinets.com/

For more C clarinets: http://RalphKatz.pbworks.com/CClarinets

I could use a spare; it will probably be a Ridenour.

Tenor Sax: H. Couf Superba I

In 2005, I traded 6 clarinets I would never use again for this, and it has been fun. Haven't played tenor in 20 years, and I am now better than I was then (which says absolutely nothing.) I know Herb Couf. A couple of guys who managed his import business, around the time this instrument was made, said that these came from Germany, but who knows for sure? It is a nice horn, but rather heavy.

http://www.saxpics.com/Keilwerth/h-couf.htm

Flute: Gemeinhart M3

Solid sterling head, plated body, in-line G. A friend's ex-wife sold me this for $100, and even I can play it after the overhaul.

Mixer: Mackie 1402VLZ - flexible and portable, but with a learning curve. My wife has a 1202VLZPro, and does good things with it at her elementary school assemblies, with very humble mikes and speakers. (I have the older, non-"Pro" model, less head space, but still a great product).

http://www.mackie.com/products/1402vlzpro/

Powered Speakers: JBL EON 15 P1 - 150 watts. The Eon 15G2 is 450 watts. I like this lower-powered model, because it is $200 less, and there is no need for enough power to permanently lose my hearing in 12 seconds flat.

http://www.jblpro.com/eong2/index.htm

I used the 1402VLZ / EON15P1 combination to amplify songwriter Steve Seskin in the cafeteria at my wife's elementary school, and it worked out just great - not obtrusive, and everyone could hear him well.  BTW Steve is at: http://www.steveseskin.com/

Other: Behringer Digital Feedback Destroyer Pro - this is a cheap, and very cool unit. Note that it works at Line Level, not Mike Level. You need to buy it from a store that has someone on staff who has actually used one of these on live events, as the manual was written by German engineers and translated - enough said.

http://www.behringer.com/DSP1124P/index.cfm

Digital recorder: 

Zoom H1, certainly low-end, but so far so good.  And it uses AAA batteries.

Pasoana MK 2.0 clarinet pickup: This screws into a hole drilled in a barrel.  Eric Satterlee of Meridian Winds in Lansing, MI supplied the barrel and it works just fine.  This isn't necessarily the best sound reproducer available, but it is the only one I found with a removable audio chord, which will pull out instead of breaking the pickup when, not if, you step on it.  At £94.00 plus shipping, it is a relatively inexpensive solution that has served me well for its intended purpose, which is feeding an effects processor (see below).  There is also a MK 2.1 now, with better reproduction, at a higher price.

http://www.pasoana.com/

Digital Effects: Line6 Pod XT Live - for all you frustrated clarinetists who want to play with a rock band, this and a pickup (barrel or mpce mounted) is your ticket.  It opens up a huge array of effects and alternate sounds.  Reverb, Echo, Crunch, Flanger, Phaser, Stereo Chorus, down an octave, you name it.  Some experiments with preset effects are below:

http://ralphkatz.pbworks.com/ClarinetNewHorizons

http://line6.com/podxtlive/

German System Clarinets

I don't own one but this is a great resource: http://www.cs.ru.nl/~bolke/DuitseKlar/oehlerlistOld.html

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