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Walter@clarinetxpress.com |
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| Customer Comments |
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Reviews of Prior Zinner-based mouthpieces Soprano Clarinet mouthpieces: Hi
Walter! I hope all is well. I just had a Lincoln Center concert last
night, and as usual your G11* did a superb job in some quite extreme
playing!
I don't know if you are in the habit of sharing concerts by Grabner
artists... if you are, then here is the video from last night on the
website of the Chamber Music Society: https://www.chambermusicsociety.org/watch-and-listen/live/new-music-march-16-2017-livestream/ Thommaso Lonquich. Dear Walter, my name is Igor Armani. I am an italian clarinetist, I work as principal clarinet in the Schleswig-Holstein Symphony Orchestra in Flensburg (Germany) and from next season I will be Co-Principal Clarinetist in the Philharmonisches Orchester Kiel (ALso in Germany). I am a friend of Tommaso Lonquich, and I got from him a G13*. I am playing it enthusiastically since more then one mounth. I am so happy and just wanted you to know that one principal clarinetist more is playing your mouthpieces. Thank you and hope sometime I will be lucky to meet you. Best Regards, Igor I am really enjoying the mouthpiece CXZ_G11* #8305! I like the uniformity of the sound throughout all the registers and the articulation is quite good. I feel like I am producing a larger, darker sound --but still have the flexibility to play soft and delicate passages with ease as well. I also appreciate that the pitch is a little lower than my previous mouthpiece! I have been using Vandoren Blue Box 3.5's and have been having good luck finding and adjusting reeds. Tony Costa, Professor of Clarinet, Penn State University Hi, the CXZ_G13* arrived yesterday- It is absolutely terrific, thanks again for your craftsmanship! All the best, Philip Green, Co Principal Clarinet, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. I received the CXZ_G11* several days ago, and have really put it through its paces. I think it might be the best mouthpiece I have ever played on. William Thomas, Virginia Symphony Orchestra. I received the mouthpiece yesterday (CXZ_K13*). I tested it today, and my friend Gyuri tested it too. The mouthpiece is very good, thank you! With best wishes: Jozsef Tonkoly, Principal Clarinet Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra. Thanks for the mouthpieces you sent me. I like the CXZ_K13* a lot. They have an incredible blend of darkness and clarity and speak so well in the high register, and I also like how even and focused the sound is. I played on the CXZ_K13* in a concert with the Icelandic Symphony on the same day i got it. Armann Helgason, Iceland. (Just) some words to tell you the pleasure I have to play your CXZ_K14 and the Lawrie Bloom bass clarinet mouthpiece ā€¦.. (they are ) very good and i can now cover all situations with my two Grabner's. Many colleagues are interested about your products. Thank you again for your great work. Francois Dutreuil, Bass Clarinet, Philharmonic Orchestra, Nice Just a note to tell you that the CXZ_K13* has arrived. I am back from the holidays and trying (it out). I think this must be the best mouthpiece I ever had. Although the lay is shorter in comparison the mp's I played all those years, it gives a wonderful dark big sound. Fons Klesman, Solo Clarinet, Royal Dutch Marine Band. The four mouthpieces you sent me are serving me excellently - all four of them! Each has its own character which I like a lot. Depends on the accoustics where I'm playing, which one I use.¯ Einar Johannesson, Principal Clarinet, Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Icelandic Opera Orchestra. The proud owner of the CXZ_K13e is our brilliant young first clarinetist, Oleg Moroz,¯ Principal Clarinet, National Opera of Ukraine. and yes I am using the K14 in KSO and it is working out well. I played the Mozart concerto twice with this mouthpiece and have had a lot of great feedback. The mouthpiece for the C clarinet is also excellent¯ Carmen Gassi, Principal Clarinet, Kindred Spirits Orchestra Thank you! Great products (CXZ_K11*)!! Dana Hotle, Principal Clarinet, Illinois Symphony The clarinet section of Ural Philharmonic Orchestra (Russia) is now equipped with Grabner mouthpieces!!ā€¯ Alexander Glazirin, Principal Clarinet, Ural Philharmonic Orchestra. The K13 is very good, I'm using it for now in the Orchestra. It fits me very well.¯ Gyorgy Salamon, Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra. "Walter, the K13* and the LB bass clarinet piece are excellent. They're both getting a workout at the Stratford Festival this season. I'm using the K13* on 42nd Street and Pirates of Penzance, which is quite a testament to its versatility! I also used it to record incidental music for Henry V and for Christopher Plummer's one man show, A Word or Two, with great results." - Merlin Williams, freelance doubler/Stratford Shakespeare Festival Orchestra "Easily the best mouthpiece (CXZ_K11*) I have ever played."¯ Garrett Martin, Royal Hawaiian Band. Walter, I received the K-13e mouthpiece and Muncy barrels yesterday, and, I must say, I am very delighted. The mouthpiece, except for the higher pitch, is almost identical to the K-13*and plays equally well. I have all the leeway I need now with both the A and B flat clarinets. The barrels are beautifully made and sound excellentā€¦ā€¦.Thanks for your wonderful service and work. Ken Latchis. The mouthpieces were excellent (CXZ_K11*). Between the two, it seemed one was more resistant and covered, the other was a little freer and had a bit more ring. Both had beautiful sounds- I ended up picking the one with a bit more ring and ease of response- it felt a bit more comfortable to me and has a wonderful shape to the sound.¯ John Kurosawa, Principal Clarinet, The Dayton Symphony I just finished a long recording session, and I wanted to tell you that I selected your CXZ_K13 mouthpiece as my new number one¯ mouthpiece. It did everything I needed it to do, fast articulation, soft delicate passages at full tone in loud passages.¯ Christopher King, Ulster Symphony Orchestra, Ireland. The K13 is working beautifully for me. Playing Mahler 5 in the New Haven Symphony this week, and it sounds great. Andy Grenci, CT. - Coast Guard Band, New Haven Symphony The mouthpiece has appeared as though is made for me! Moderately free blowing, possibility to play piano in any register.. magnificent legato between octaves.. thus (my) lips feel absolutely freely and aren't tired. There was no accustoming; at once it is very convenient to play. Once again many thanks.ā€¯ Igor Balobolka Novosibirsk Academic Opera and Ballet Theater Orchestra. I am clarinet soloist of Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg. I play your mouthpiece (CXZ_K13) for more than 6 years. I like it very much and have until now tried nothing (I liked) better. I will be at Clarinetfest in LA,¦... I would be very glad to get acquainted with You and try some of your mouthpieces. My students need good mouthpieces badly and also I need a second mouthpiece.¯ Ivan Stoblov, Principal Clarinet Mariinsky Theater Orchestra (Kirov Ballet Orchestra.) The mouthpiece (CXZ_AW_PERS) arrived this morning. It's really a masterwork! Many, many thanks, wish you all the best! Giorgio Berrugi, Opera Star and Clarinetist "The Grabner mouthpieces have been especially well received by our customers at Howarth of London for the past few years, particularly the K11* and 13* models that have recently become our one of our most highly recommended bespoke mouthpieces. These mouthpieces are beautifully hand crafted and as a result very responsive and provide clarinettists with an excellent tonal centre and flexibility of sound. Grabner mouthpieces are consistently responsive across the full range of clarinets from E flat to contrabass with the Bloom bass clarinet model achieving great popularity amongst many professionals." Howarth of London http://www.howarth.uk.com/ Still very happy with the mouthpieces that I see from you for my students. When my students can afford a "Grabner", I prefer them over even the best of the Vandoren mouthpieces.¯ David Niethamer, Richmond, VA I am happy to let you know that I have been playing one of your K13* mouthpieces for the last few months, and it has been a very good musical experience. I also appreciate your great work on the Bloom bass clarinet mouthpiece, which I have been playing with great pleasure for a few months now.¯ Tommaso Lonquich, Danish recording artist I will be keeping the K14 you just sent me. Perfect for jazz and the K11 I just bought meets all my needs for classical. It is a pleasure to play on both mps and my tone has improved considersably. Awesome work s I've been playing this mouthpiece for about six weeks now, and I'm very happy with it. It responds very evenly throughout the tonal and dynamic ranges, and response in the altissimo register is rock solid and predictable. Every note on the instrument is "there"; no fussing with my embouchure to compensate for quirks in the mouthpiece. B.M., VA. Your Jazz¯ mouthpiece, turned out to be fantastic!!! It really produced the tone that we Greeks like! My brother who plays laouto in my Greek band happened to come by and I played it for him. He also said it was great. I like it so much that I ordered another one for "just in case" if you know what I mean. J.P., CA I'm definitely buying one if not both of the mouthpieces that I received. I started testing your mouthpiece on Saturday and it has been kind of an eye opener to me. I have really been able to hear and feel the differences between the two mouthpieces (Deleted) and yours. The biggest difference has been that your mouthpiece has the ring that I have been missing with the (Deleted) mouthpiece. Dynamically it is also much better because of the balance between the volume of air and the resistance of the mouthpiece. I felt that with the other mouthpiece that I couldn't get to that resistance point regardless of how much air I put through. I don't think that I could have selected a better mouthpiece for what I have been using. It's the best that I have played (and I think better) than the James Kanter that I was using when I lived in Virginia. R.G. VA Eb Clarinet mouthpieces: Dear Mr Grabner: I received my eflat clarinet
mouthpiece and ligature a few weeks ago here in South Africa. Thank
you for sending it through so quickly. I'm very happy with it and am so
glad I invested in one of your mouthpieces! The sound is round and
resonant and the intonation excellent! Thank
you for your wonderful craftsmanship and quick responce to my mails. I
look forward to purchasing more of your products in the future. Annelise de Villiers, Capetown Philharmonic Orchestra
Hi Walter. Just wanted to say hi and tell you how much I'm enjoying the Eb mouthpiece I got from you at the clarinet convention. I've done several gigs with it and am still amazed every time I pick up the instrument. It's a whole new ballgame! Thanks again. Mark Margolies, San Diego. The (mouthpiece) I kept has a much better sound than any other Eb mouthpiece I've triedā€¦ā€¦.I actually just played a Molter concerto on my recital a few days ago, and Dr. Verdehr said that the most impressive thing about the recital was the sound that I was able to get out of the D clarinet.ā€¯ J.K, MI. This has been one of the best mpcs I've played. Response is exceptional, as is the timbre across all the registers. Nice projection; plenty of room for pp to fff.¯ B.M., VA. I love the mouthpiece (eb clarinet) you made.¯ Andy, CA. Alto Clarinet Mouthpieces: I received the alto mouthpiece today. It's clearly the best mouthpiece I've ever had for this instrument. I do jazz improv on the alto and I'm very comfortable on it, but this mothpiece delivers an obvious improvement in timbre. The altissimo is particularly thick and rich, much less shrill than on my previous mouthpieces (Selmer C*, 5RV, and Pomarico crystal). R.S. Ottawa Canada Just wanted to let you know that I received the alto clarinet mouthpiece. I've been playing it off and on for the last couple of days and it is truly remarkable. It really opens up the horn (Selmer). I noticed a great improvement especially in the throat tones and in the upper registers. The tone is so much more consistent over the full range of the instrument. I've had to make some adjustments to my embouchure for this particular facing but it's such a pleasure to hear the positive results.Well done! I'm keeping it! K.F., CA Walter; The mouthpiece arrived today and is a definite "keeper". While waiting for it to arrive I had picked up a couple others to experiment with - 1 hand made and a couple "name" brands. Yours "leaves the others in the dust" and was definitely worth the wait. Will definitely be ordering a couple more from you in the near future (soprano and bass clarinet). Many thanks. Cheers. Paul Mimlitsch, CO. Eb and Bb Contra Bass Clarinet Mouthpieces: "Walter, thank you for the incredible contra alto mouthpiece. It will make my job of frightening children and small animals much easier. I play your mouthpieces on all the low horns, and they're all incredible." Dickson Grimes Walter, I put the Bb contra piece through 2 hours of rehearsal last night and it did not disappoint. As you know, playing the beast requires confidence in the equipment and this mouthpiece inspires tons of it. It allows me to do whatever I need to do and more. Chalumeau is rich to the core, but the best part is playing in the clarion range, the sound doesn't thin out, it still thick, substantial, and sounds like a contra! Overall the best contra piece I have ever played on, and I have played many! My Leblanc 340 never sounded so alive. Good stuff¯ W.W., Vancouver I got the mouthpiece today. I love it! I'm very impressed with your work. Your mouthpiece brings my Contra Alto to life.¯ James Love, Texas.
Basset Horn Mouthpiece: Your basset horn mouthpiece arrived in the mail yesterday afternoon. I had a Mozart Requiem rehearsal that evening and brought the mouthpiece to try out in the hall—it sounded amazing from the first note! The evenness of response and depth of tone across the compass of the instrument is incredible and I find that I’m using my air much more efficiently than with other basset setups I’ve used in the past. Tuning and projection are wonderful. It’s very flexible as well—I’ve just been practicing some Stockhausen basset horn pieces and find that the mouthpiece can handle everything I ask of it! Really very excellent work; I will recommend this mouthpiece to other basset horn players I know. L.H. Re-facing: I just received the alto clarinet mouthpiece in the mail last week that you refaced for me. You did make a substantial improvement in the mouthpiece. It does play much more easily and consistently now.¯ S. M. Wisconsin (I) just recommended your work and mouthpieces to some students today and hope they will contact you in the future...such excellent work is rare in an age of rushing and low quality....refacing is not such an easy thing to do on an old mouthpiece¦..David Dow, Principal Clarinet, Symphony New Brunswick, Canada. |