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Vintage 1940 Cicero Mouthpieces
After a huge success with the first line of Gennusamouthpieces and then the long run of the LaVecchia mouthpieces, since 1984, theVintage 1940 Ciceromouthpieces had to be released in August of 2017.
I took the very best Chedeville mouthpiece belonging toIggie Gennusa which had a broken tip and fixed it. I then had a RobertMarcellus Cicero Kaspar mouthpiece and I decided to compare the both of themand surprisingly they were pretty close in measurements, mainly the baffle,chamber and the bore. Actually the bores were the exact same so it is my beliefthat the Cicero Kaspar is actually a Chedeville, slightly altered for BobMarcellus. We know that Kaspar bought Chedevilles when he was in Cicero. Some of themeasurements are as close as less than a human hair.
I then played on them for a long time and took the best ofeach mouthpiece and made a mold. During the mold making I felt the need to makethese play with the 21st century clarinets, as the bores had changed and newinstruments were being introduced. Mainly larger bores, compared to the 1960'sBuffet R13 clarinets. I played them at Severance Hall and Orchestra Hall in Chicago. Not just in atiny practice room. Also the Kennedy Centeronce the Vintage 1940 Ciceromouthpieces were done. These RING!
Most of the present day players have never played on aChedeville nor a Kaspar mouthpiece and some of them were junk, yet others werevery good.
Knowing this I ask all of you to take a week or so to adjustto how great these are by playing long tones starting softly going to forte andback down to piano as warm-ups. Also during this time notice how easy it is toplay the upper register. How free the sound is. It may sound a shade bright upclose when playing, but in a hall the sound warms up.
During my years as a student with Gennusa and MarcellusGennusa would often play with alarm clocks going off, buzzing. This is how hecould hear his true sound. Bob Marcellus sometimes asked me if the reed soundedbuzzy, because this is what he wanted and he knew the warm sound would bounceall over Severance Hall. So I ask you toget the feel of these great mouthpieces. These are not Zinner's, those darksounds that sound so pretty up close, but do not project in halls. So few symphonyplayers are using Zinner mouthpieces, because they know that the sound doesn'treach the back of the halls. They are DEAD sounding in halls.
I also ask you to look at players such as HaroldWright who only need a tip opening of 1.01 and Iggie Gennusa who used a 1.03but they filled the halls with this the most beautiful warm Chedeville sounds.These mouthpieces come with a 2 week trial. Enjoy! Facings come in 1.01 to1.15. I think anything from 1.10 to 1.03 is best. I play on a 1.05 with adouble lip embouchure. I am also aYamaha Artist. I play on the CSVR clarinets
