Welcome to the Clarinet Ninja podcast. My name is Jay Hassler and I'm as always
bringing you the finest in clarinet information and entertainment. Today we
have Mr. Aaron Irwin playing us in. If you like what you hear, please check out
the rest of his music down in the description. Wonderful musician. Happens to be a jazz musician primarily, but
writes some really, really wonderful music for the clarinet and it's featured right here. So, please don't hesitate to
check that out. And while you're scoping around the internet, go ahead and check out the clarinet ninja dojo. Go to clarinet ninja.com and uh click to join
the dojo page. You know, you're not joining right then. You're going to get some information. Look at that information. Check it out. If you're an
adult wants to learn how to play the clarinet, there's something there for you. Uh I've got a free a free class you
can you can get. And then of course there's a paid class and that paid class gets you a lot of time with me in person
uh once a week as well as a lot of resources online. Let's listen to the
second half of the conversation with Brad Bane. We can really learn about the rubber that he uses to make his blanks
then makes his mouthpieces, how he goes about the fine craftsmanship of making these products. Enjoy and uh we will see
you on the other side. I'm I'm going to pivot on the word relationship and talk about something
different for a second. One of my favorite memories of the Denver convention or the clan convention was
when I was trying to get you to go go do something with me and you're like, well, I'm I'm going over and I'm hanging out with some friends at an Airbnb. You
should come. And then I was like, I don't know any of these people, you know, and like I go I go immediately
back to like uh a person with a lot of social anxiety, which I've gotten rid of mostly, but it can come back really big.
And I'm like, people I don't know. And then we we went back and and uh all your
friends from college basically, right? I mean, there's people that you've known for so many years all sitting at the same table having dinner talking and
laughing. you know, Lee Levengood, I remember specifically, was there also somebody that makes mouthpieces that are
great, you know, and what struck me was how the clarinet and music brings everybody
together in such longlasting, supportive, wonderful relationships and and how it felt like it felt great to be
like brought in and nobody said, "Why'd you invite that guy?" They may have thought it, but they hid it really
really well. But but but just to kind of witness the banter that goes along and the relationships that are formed over
those years and like I wonder like when you decided, okay, I'm going to start
making mouthpieces and then you're going to start making your own rubber. Did any of your friends from that period, maybe
not the people that I'm talking about specifically, say, Brad's really lost it? That's crazy.
No, I don't I didn't get any negative uh feedback. I I think that everybody was
like, "Oh, that's fantastic." I I'm really excited to try it, you know, when
you got it because it it at that point it just was completely unchartered territory. I mean it had had
not never been done and uh but especially at that point still there were a lot of people that really
cherished those old antique mouthpieces from the midentury and even before you
know the early 20th century that the it was pretty well understood by my circle
of friends that the old rubber it was universally understood by that collection of friends that the old
rubber was better. It wasn't just a belief that I had. It was it was an it was understood to be fact by everybody I
knew talking about this from somebody that that plays and you play and the real thing and I won't mention who it
was you could probably infer from the conversation we had I was talking to another another really really highle
mouthpiece maker and we were talking about the the mouthpieces that they made
and how what I wanted different and their response was very honest and I
really appreciated it which is I don't feel comfortable making a mouthpiece like that because that's not a
mouthpiece I would play and I can't really feel comfortable studying it out
in the world if it doesn't work for me. I'm curious to know like what your experience because you and I play a a
pretty different setup in terms of read strength and and and mouthpiece and and whatnot. And I'm and you've made this
mouthpiece that I love which I don't think you would actually choose for yourself. And I'm wondering if you could just lend us some insight into what that
experience is like because I'm sure the first mouthpieces you made were mouthpieces that were essentially for you. Right. And so then how is it that
that you like go on the progression to make mouthpieces that aren't for you like that you wouldn't choose for
yourself? Well, I mean there are limitations to how far I'll go. That said, I am open
to explore what you know like if if you know Europe is 500 million people. you
know, half of that population is looking for something that's completely different. You know, like thinking about the Dublin experience, you know, Dublin
Ireland is part of the EU and there were a lot of European players there that they were playing on something crazy
different than what I would do personally for, you know, my preference. But I think, okay, well, you know, like that's a lot of people over there. Do I
want to just exclude them from my vocabulary or maybe learn what what is the nugget of of truth that we can both
appreciate, right? And so I took it as a learning ex, you know, endeavor, a
pursuit to try to try to find a way to both create something that they would
like and that I would endorse as a maker. So I'm not going necessarily all
the way. What I'm trying to do is make something that, you know, if if I'm
making a a mouthpiece that would serve a different player than the way I approach it, I'm going to try to make something
that will serve them better, will give them a little extra stuff in the sound
and will give a little extra comfort in the experience and give them a little bit
um more security in their response. Maybe they don't even know it at the at the beginning of the conversation, but
by the end they are relying on it and they're appreciative to have it. So, I
guess what I'm saying is I'm I'm open-minded to to learn and I'm old
enough and stubborn enough. I was going to say wise enough at first, but I didn't want to say sound arrogant. So,
I'll say I'm stubborn enough to say to have boundaries and say no, that's not
what I'm going to do. But, um, I'm so glad that I'm I'm open enough
to have added some options beyond my own personal ones to my business because it
broadens my reach and it it it expands my community of
friends. I mean, every customer that I that I communicate with, I I treat them as a friend and and they ultimately
become friends because we have so much communication. And I love that the fact that I have such a large network of
people that I can call friends because of the business has introduced me to them. From the first conversation we
ever had, I remember I was at my mom's house in Arizona and I had emailed you to to to try and buy some of these read
cases before they came out so I could make a video when they came out. And and uh and you said, "Oh, just give me a
call." And so like again, that's another moment. You wouldn't hopefully know this. my social anxiety was like, "Oh,
I'm going to call Brad Bane on the phone. He's famous. I don't I don't I felt a lot of that." But but then from
the first moment we started talking, I felt like I'd known you my whole life. You do a very good job with that. And it it's um it's something that that appears
to be very natural for you. And it's it's very it's it's very comforting and it feels a lot of times not so much with
clarinet mouthpiece makers but with saxful mouthpiece makers they they're kind of frightening like like but like I
I you know again I don't want to call anybody out but like it it feels like if you don't like what they make they're going to be angry at you and then and
I've never gotten even a shred of that from you. But I I want I want to pivot to to your non-mouthpiece products that
that are sitting here with me and and uh you know for the video part of this podcast I'll I'll put some things on the
screen so people can see what I'm talking about. But these read cases and what went into them. It's it's really
really amazing when when I think of people that have innovated something that is really different. I mean I feel
like your mouthpieces are different. They're made out of something different that they're different. But like you said, they're
still to somebody who doesn't know. And I would almost consider myself someone that doesn't know in terms of looking at
something at a mouthpiece. I can look at it and I can say, "Oh, that's got thin rails or not thin rails or that's an
open tip." But that's about as far as I can go. I can't look at it and tell anything else. But like these read cases are
absolutely different than anything that came before it. And your barrels are also they're different than anything
I've ever had on my instrument or in my in my hand. And I'm curious to know like
and I remember the thing I said to you, this has gotten all meandery, but like the thing I said to you when we first talked was I admire the fact that you
have an idea and you actually do it because I've got lots of ideas. I've got
the greatest clarinet case that's ever existed right up here. I haven't ever built it and I never will because I
don't follow through on things like that. That's what's amazing about my online program is I followed through on it. I had an idea that I believed in and
I did it. I'm growing up. Uh but but like my case is never going to get made.
But but like when when you were thinking about these recases, what what prompted the initial idea and
how many iterations of this did you go through? You know, sometimes in life, you know, you take advantage
of a a moment of of inaction or bad
opportunities. Basically, it was during the pandemic and I had just hired an
engineer to program and operate the CNC machines and we had just purchased a
new CAM software. you know, the software that converts the the digital picture on
the computer into the tool pathways that that run the CNC machines. And it was a
very expensive software package that has a secondary software package that
translates those tool pathways to the specific machine that we're operating.
Those are called um it's sort of like a sub program and those programs needed to be
custommade by that software company for our machines and we had about six weeks
where we're s sitting there waiting because this was an all new reset for us. You know, I got a new employee, a
new software package and now we and I'm paying him all this money to sit on his
butt and do nothing while we wait for the software to be made. And so he was great, you know, he's like, "Well, what
what do we want to do? Let's let's design something." And I'm like, "Well, in the back of my head, I you know, like I always wanted to make a re a m a
clarinet case. This would be your opportunity, right?" So I was like, I always wanted to make a better read
case. So all right, let's do it. He's ready to like program the the digital, it's called a solid model, the digital
picture of the of the read case. And so I told him what I wanted to do, and he did it. And then we had a 3D printer. We
had one 3D printer just a couple of months before he came on and he had had experience with 3D printing. So we were
able to print some prototypes. And then that process was about I want it was
either a year or 18 months I can't remember where we did this design and that design and this design that design.
And then at the Reno clarinet conference, I had some prototypes that I
was actually using and I had used it used these prototypes all all the season, you know, for the nine months
before that conference just personally to make sure they're doing what they're going to do. And at that point, the
machine shop was up and running so he could do other other things. But it was just that initial six weeks where we
were down, we just dedicated towards this readcase project and some other things as well. Um, and so it was the
right time where our brains were on it and we were creative and I was smart
enough read maker and experience with clarinet and I had my concept of what I
wanted to do and it was natural these ideas just kept on coming and you know there were a lot of you know the
original design is very different than what we came up with because it was an evolutionary process and every step of
the way these new ideas improved it one more degree. In fact, I remember in
February, what about three years ago is when I released the read the read case at the TMEA conference, that was when I
introduced it. And about a week before that conference, decided, you know, this
is too good of a thing. We should patent it. So, I called the lawyer. are like, "No, no, no. You can't, you know, we
need to make sure that we get the patent application in before you start selling them because, you know, of the legality
of it all." And so we hustled really fast to get all the drawings and
everything, all the information so she could get the get the the patent pending
stage of the application in before the conference. And then like two days before the conference, I
decide I just woke up in the morning. My best thinking is like when I'm laying in bed in the morning, not quite awake, but
and I thought, you know, if I raise the reads on rails, elevate the whole thing, the
whole kitten kaboodleoodle above the the the flat, right? So that there's nothing
that it can warp against. So, you know, redo everything, redo the drawings,
resubmit to the lawyer, and then go. And so, I had all of these read cases that
were made, these pocket six read cases that were made without rails. And so, we dropped the price by $10, sold those off
and then redid, you know, re redesigned that and then augmented with a whole
bunch of other sizes. Since then, we had just clarinet cases at that time. We then added bass clarinet tenor
saxophone. And then we added different size cases, you know, that you could do 20 or 10 reads or six reads. And then we
added uh alto saxophone, which are good with leger reads, the euros because
they're kind of wide. And then we added uh contrabase, baritone saxophone
readase sizes as well. So we we're doing rec cases for bassoon, obo, and all the single read instruments with the
exception bass saxophone. So we've got it all covered. I don't know. Maybe bass saxophone uses the same read as a as a
baritone. I don't know. I I don't think so, but I've never played one, so I I don't actually know. Uh but I would
imagine that the bass saxophone readase market is not huge.
So you're probably not missing much in terms of probably not probably in terms of sales. You know, I I feel the same
thing about these recases. And these rec cases, I feel like what a shame we ever
had to live without this because I mean, just to sort of put it all out there, like you already kind of done it, but
like you know, with the Bevita humidity humidity packs in there and the reads on the
rails, like the reads just play better all the time. Like they're just better.
They're they're they're not they're not warped. And if I like let's say I've got I've got one of the ones that holds 20 in my hand and then they move into the
one that holds 10 and then they move into my case where I've got the pocket 10 and the the six and so my reads move
from one place to the next without ever going through that. Like if I let's just say my reads are really working for a
long time and the reads that I loaded up in the first stage don't get used right away. They
don't get that entirely dried out, you know, warped tip, all all that stuff. They're they're ready to go. They
they're in the same condition that I left them. And that's where I find the most benefit of this is there's benefits
everywhere about the read cases. But when they're sitting at home waiting to become waiting to be called up into the
big leagues, they're more ready to go. And I find that I have more success working on the reads because those reads
haven't dried out in the same way. They're they're much more stable. and they I can just go with them, you know,
and I don't have to worry like if I don't if I don't basically if I don't play through all these reads, the the
set of reads at home are going to get messed up and I'm going have to throw throw those away. Uh which is it's been
a nice thing. It's it's saved a fortune for me in terms of of having reads that
last longer that work better. As you said before, your your price point on them is higher than any other read case,
but I'm confident that over the course of a year, that money would be saved for
anybody on the reads that they don't have to buy because their reads work better and they work longer. Done. Like,
and I think that that's it's that's hard to factor in. I could never put an
actual dollar amount on it, but I know it's true because I go through far less reads now. And they all and I'll add not
only I mean I I agree with you entirely. Thank you you for saying what I would say but you say it better. I'll add not
only are you going to end up saving money and like basically the cost of the Reed case is is from comes from the
savings of money and then you're making money after that. Right to put it be really cheesy. You're going to have
pockets full of cash before the end of the day. And then the other thing is of course the reads play better, right?
like that my the standard of performance has has improved. I mean, how it's a win-win. Um I I think all the time with
my briefcase, gosh, I wish I had these things 30 years ago. I mean, where how much better it would be. Also, like, you
know, there are people that are always scraping the back the flat side of the read. I don't I don't need to do that. I
just put it in my read case and let the read case, you know, work it all out. I Yeah, I I agree. Like, it's just
everything about it is better. The reads stay put. It's amazing. I I want to talk about these barrels, okay? Because like
I always dreamed of a life where my barrel was pushed all the way in all the
time cuz I think my clarinet plays better. And I I don't know whether there's any scientific truth to it. It's
just a strong feeling that I have. Barrel pushed all the way in, instrument plays better. But of course, I'm a mile
sharp when I do that on a traditional barrel. This barrel, I've always pushed it all the way and I can play whatever
pitch I want. That's a miracle. And and and and as far as I know, your barrels aren't the only
ones that do that. But there is something about these barrels that is,
and this is the magic part of it that you know about that I don't know about about how they actually play on the inside. There's something going on in
the inside that makes them better than the other adjustable barrels that I've tried, which I can't even remember the
name of because I've had a Brad Bane barrel and I don't really care about other barrels. But it's it's just it's
just it's just interesting to me like what a game changer that was. And particularly there's something about going over the break and and just all
the notes. But I feel like my long notes, you know, like my my B's and C's in the middle of the staff, they just
everything just sounds much more integrated tone-wise. It's just it's just a really fantastic thing to play on. And I can't imagine not having it at
this point. My position on on any of your equipment hasn't changed. Normally if I buy a new barrel a year later I'm
like maybe I should try new barrels, right? I mean that because that that's always the cycle with equipment, right?
You you get a new mouthpiece and then a couple years later I should try something else, you know? Maybe I or
with the barrels I you know and I've never even had one second of a thought about why I would want to play another
barrel. And if I quite honestly I haven't put another barrel on my instrument since I've had yours. I mean
I normally tempted to goof around. So, what happens if I do this? And Nope. No
goofing around. I'm solid. I got it. I'm happy. And uh that's something that that
I've never experienced with a product for the length of time that I have with with with your stuff. It's really really exciting. And so, just in terms of
understanding your product line, I want to go back to the mouthpieces for a second. One of the people in my in my class plays on the Prescott version of
your mouthpiece. That that line. Can you tell us about the different cuz you've got basically a a a student mouthpiece
and then that Prescott line of mouthpieces and then a couple other lines of mouthpieces that I would I
would characterize generally as as like the top-of-the-line professional mouthpieces. Can you just kind of take
us through that real quick so everybody understands what what's available? Sure. And if I could just really quickly, I I
agree with you that when the barrel is all the way in, when the clarinet is all the way assembled, you know, that the
two big joints are assembled, it I think it just resonates better. And so um you
know the the for some reason the manufacturers Yamaha and Buffet for sure
and others I'm pretty sure they've created their instruments where the the
internal faces of the joints have a little bit of a gap when fully inserted.
And so I built tuning I call them acoustic tuning spacers. They're not just tuning rings but they're meant to
actually fill that gap. you know, like you can get the thinnest one will just fill the gap even though you're all the way pushed in. You don't even notice
that that there's anything in there, but it actually fills the gap and then boom, the instrument plays more resonant.
There might be a little bit more resistance. Oddly enough, it adds touch of resistance and some people maybe the instruments are makers are chasing
freedom. I don't know why they put the gap there, but the same so I I then have
a various spacer thicknesses to accommodate intonation from that point as well. Um, so the same idea with the
with the mouthpiece barrel connection and the barrel clarinet connection. I
have those internal faces buttf faced. They're touching one another on purpose
because it just resonates better. Same thing same thing that you basically said
and then you just simply extend with the with with the ring from there. But you but my idea is all the joints need to
have butt facetoface contact. I like the whole butt face idea. Um, there's a
there's a there's a there's a like an engineer would describe two
things coming together, butt joining. So, I'm sort of mixing my an analogies and it's probably completely in
inappropriate for this conversation. I think I think it's delightful. So, um,
u, but you were asking about the different different mouthpiece designs, but go ahead. Well, but but but while we're on this for a second, like maybe
you know the answer to this. I know you don't make clarinets. It would seem like the reason our clarinet is in five pieces is for transportation purposes to
have the case not be so long, but also so that more detailed bore work can happen and
the holes can be cut specifically, but that in a perfect world, our clarinet would be one long piece of wood. Yeah.
Yeah. You can get up under there with the tools if it's, you know, if the if the joint is shorter. And also, I'll say that it's it's easier for the
manufacturers to procure short sticks of wood. Uh, you remember the the the buffet bass
clarinet? It used to have Well, maybe it does still. There's like they grafted a second hunk of wood to the bottom of the
of the wood part of the body. I I'm a Selmer bass clarinet guy, so I
don't I love the Selmer bass clarinets. Oh, yeah. Um, you know, the Eflat clarinets, they made them for a while
where they were two separate body parts where you put them together. I I have one of those and I It's the dumbest
thing I've ever bought. Yeah. Yeah, I had one. I sold it. But the I mean I think it was because they were having
trouble finding I don't know. Maybe they were trying to resource smaller pieces of of of wood. But I mean Luis Rossi
makes a single body with the whole thing. All the keys are one piece and then you stick a bell and you stick a
barrel and and mouthpiece on it and you're good to go. And I think that the guy has serious integrity to to do it
that way. I mean, you need some long long tools to get way up there to to re,
you know, to to do your um poly cylindric over near the G sharp tone
hole or, you know, the the first finger of the right hand. I mean, you're coming from which end and how to get there and
be, you know, precise and do what you do what you need to do and do it with such beauty. Uh, you know, he came up with
that idea and he stuck with it his whole career because it works, because it's better. the other companies, they
decided to get away from those acoustics and try to find shortcuts around it. It's not as good, but it it's it's a
it's a conversation of economics. Luis isn't about the economic conversation. He's about the artistic conversation.
Not to say the other makers are absent the artistry, but you know, he's that personal integrity. I just think it's
fabulous. So, so um it is it is handy to have a small case though, isn't it? I
know, right? I mean, like like Yeah. I wouldn't want to Yeah, I wouldn't want to carry out a case that long uh all the
time. That that that would bum me out. But New Yorker
I just pull the suitcase out of my trunk and I wheel it to the orchestra. Yeah. No, like I'm loaded up with face clarets
and it's uh it's very interesting to me how
I don't notice it all the time because it's just a part of my life, but how adept I am at getting places like into a
crowded train to get my stuff off of my back without bumping into people and and get myself compacted down into a seat
where I've got a bunch of instruments that are stacked up very specifically so that I'm only taking up a small footprint of what I'm really supposed to
have on the train because it's it can be really problematic. If you're carrying a base planet on a crowded train on your
back, you can't see what's going on and people aren't aren't used to that sort of thing on people's backs. It's a be
problematic. But so, so let let's go back to the mouthpieces. Tell us about the mouthpieces and then what the what
the differences are in terms of So, first of all, I you know, all of my mouthpieces are always in a state of
evolution. You know, my flagship epic mouthpiece is is solid where it is. it's
not going to change. But I've also got some other things like the one that you
have that is different that is not on the website. But uh you know so so
there's always a state of development and and and explorations. But starting
from the lowest price, I have the Overure mouthpiece that's plastic. And then the next level up is the Prescott,
which you mentioned a student that's using and that's made uh from our hard
rubber material. We have we have two different hard rubber materials. Well, three, but uh that one's called Bane
Rubber 2. And we CNC make those in our factory in Oklahoma from rubber rubber
rod. And uh the goal about Prescott is to make a professional level mouthpiece
at a price point that the average player moving up from the their first beginner
mouthpiece can still swing. It's $200, right? And it is highly competitive. I
think it's it's superior to other mouthpieces that are, you know, mass-
prodduced that have a big stake in the in the market.
Um, it has more vibrancy. To be specific, what makes it better? It's
it's a more vibrant ringing resonant sound. um coming in the in the future.
I've got this whole exploration since last summer, right around the time that we got together in Dublin. I've been on
a dark mouthpiece journey and that's part of the influence from the Euros uh in Dublin. Um and I'll probably make a
Prescott dark as well coming in this year. And so the how is it less
expensive? Well, I don't do as much of the hand process. comes off the CNC
machine and I do a little bit of bile work deburring and just making sure and I play test it and it's done. um I may
decide to face it if I feel like it would benefit from it, but I but I advertise it as it's a machine finished
product, right? And then from there we go up to the Sono mouthpiece, which is my mid-level. It's a professional
article level product. Um and it gets more of my hand full service, right? And
then from there, my flagship lines, which are on the website Epic, and the
Epic Dark, which is my new one, and the Epic model HCV. The The HCV is the one
that's been out since 2015, which is a very accurate copy of my old um
1920s precious collector's item, pre-war era, golden era mouthpiece, who whose
name I don't want to say anymore. And I I've been asked not to use that name because that name was taken by another
maker and they and they copyrighted it and disallowed the industry from using it. I know what you're talking about.
Yeah. Yeah. So, uh what what I have though is the the world's only authentic
reproduction of the ideal version of the golden era mouthpiece from the mid20s.
And I had I I I have that mouthpiece and you know reverse engineered it and I
reverse engineered the material from which it was made. And here we have the
epic mouthpieces. Also I have a borcation in my in my product line
triforcation where I have the uh the vintage mouthpiece. Same material just
different geometry and I have different baffle con uh concepts. I've got an
S-curve baffle. I've got a U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U shape to the baffle. I've got a a larger chamber and
um lots of different intonation standards. You want 442, you want 440, I've got and that will come on the
website as the um where you can build your own mouthpiece. Wow. You know,
you'll say I'm looking for 440. I'm looking for big, you know, ambiance. I'm
looking for moderate. You know, on the scale of 1 to 10, I want a five. in
terms of bright versus dark. I'm looking for freeblowing. I play jazz sometimes
and and concert band and so it needs to be versatile and you know bing bing bing. I go through this whole process
and I have about eight different designs and I'll pick the one that most is
suited to that purpose and then I'll go and do the finish work by hand custom make them out these for the customer.
that will is what vintage has become has been off menu, but I'm going to put it
on the website and make it a main menu item. Wow. And then I also have one called the Evoke. And the Evoke used to
be my signature collection where I have a patent on the angle of the mouthpiece as it relates to the uh to the to the
body of the clarinet where like on some of the bent neck soprano saxophones for
example, the instrument is, you know, held in the in the similar posture that you might hold an alto saxophone for.
and so on and so forth. And so I did that with a clarinet mouthpiece. And I play that mouthpiece. I love the way it
allows me to have the instrument. Well, I don't have to look down when I play. I can look straight and have the
instrument in the same relationship to my body. The mouth mouthpiece angle remains unchanged. It's just I can be be
tall, see the music, and see the conductor without, you know, looking up and down. It's it's fabulous. And so
that's the Evoke line. And the evoke has a patent and it has a different relationship of how the the chamber and
the the bore relate and it's deeper. It's a more acute angle. You know,
typical mouthpiece would be like that. Mine is like that. And that creates added depth and a little bit of working
resistance. So, I deal with that added resistance through the facing and and so forth. It's a completely different
playing experience and sound experience. Um, it's really wonderful when you get
once you get your read styled and you have to drop a read string. I I often have a little bit more resistance in my
in in the DNA of what I do uh to allow the player to go down in read strength
find and then find less overall resistance in the blowing
experience and more amisher physical comfort. But the the the way the the the
material resonates, the way the the the chamber interacts with the playing experience, it doesn't have the
negatives of a lighter read. It has the positives of lighter read. What are the positives? Ease of propagation. The
negatives are to be wild and shallow, but the rubber is got so much core and the added working resistance in in the
passageway of the the blowing channel is is so secure. It has stability built
into the to the to the mouthpiece such that you get freedom and ease and stability and depth and core. It's like
a win-win win-winwin. The key thing is drop the read strength and get used to it, right? Because it requires relaxing
and getting out of the way and just let the equipment serve the the the process of making a good proper sound. You don't
have to bite the focus in or or you know amp up the the air to get a connection. Just let the mouthpiece do it for you.
And that's in all of the stuff. That's kind of the crux of my purpose. That's
everything I do. I want to serve that. But the evoke in particular, I think has
some unique and compelling ads. That's all super. You know, I love
talking to somebody who knows such an extraordinary amount about something that is important to me. I know a lot
more than a lot of people, but the difference between what I know and what you know is just it's it's an insurmountable gap of of information.
And it like I just I love hearing about it even though I don't think I could repeat it with any accuracy or genuinely
understand it. But here's my here's my sort of numskull question. Now, a lot of
times people get into a thing where they're I'm going to play this mouthpiece. I'm going to play that mouthpiece and they they've got too much
equipment and it paralyzes them a little bit. And I'm trying to imagine what it would be like to be somebody that has
basically unlimited mouthpieces to try. How do you deal with that? Oh, it's a
blast. You'll have to ask my colleague in the orchestra because she's so good. She puts up with me, you know, like
every time we have a new concert, I've got, you know, my kit. I go through them and I play them to to to speak of the the danger of that. You
know, all the mouthpieces that I would bring to the to a rehearsal, I could play the same read on all of them. It's
not like it's throws me in a loop. It's really easy. You know, you just go through and you pick the one that's just
serving the needs of the repertoire and those acoustics of the moment. Done. You
know, I just play it. I'm not hurting my experience. I'm just helping it.
Everybody should have a little case with two or three mouthpie four mouthpieces because we're always playing in a
different space, most of us, and we're always playing different repertoire and we're playing different reads from week
to week. And so sometimes that read that played great on that pops concert that's kind of dying is no good anymore for the
classics concert next week. But if I just put a mouthpiece that's a little bit more resistant, has a little bit
more gap tip opening, it'll put new life, spring new life in a dying read and get me a
whole whole another another week's worth of performance down the road without
having to throw it away premature. I just, you know, having that kit of three
mouthpieces on me, it's a big investment at first, but it'll save you. You'll be having pockets full of money by the
end. So, it's fun. I I just love it. I mean, I remember we were doing Daphniss and Khloe and the guest conductor um
Jerry Schwarz was coming. It was a big big week. But I had just at 5:00 p.m. we had just made it was the Prescott
Mountains, which is like the first one off the machine. And I was like, "This is really good." So I went to orchestra
and I played that week on the Prescott mouthpiece and no one, you know, was like, "Brad, what the heck is going on
over there?" No one knew, right? Your mother would never know. So here's what's funny. I in Ireland, a
friend of mine bought a new clarinet and and she it was a big upgrade. She bought a new clarinet. Sounds great. And uh I I
said to her, "Between now and the next time I see you at the next clinch convention, you need to have bought at
least five mouthpieces." She goes, "Why?" I said, "Well, because it's [Laughter]
fun." And I that's one of the things that like I have more mouthpieces than I
should have. I mean, I don't have as many as you have, but you can just keep replenishing yours and making them. But but like I have probably 70 to 75 80
mouthpieces. I haven't played most of them in 20 years, but I have a lot. I probably
accumulated 15 20 mouth pieces in the I get at least one mouthpiece a year generally. Not anymore because I've got
I've got a Brad Bane, but before that I I I I felt the need to switch. But it's funny to me
because I think it really helps us learn the clarinet when we do have different
equipment to learn the impact that the way we're playing has on. I think that there's there's there's
really really something to it, but also it's just it's a lot of fun to basically
do like the clan version of heroin, which is I've got this new equipment and it's perfect and I'm never going to need
another one again and to live in that space for a little while before you realize the high is gone and you know,
yeah, whatever. I'm back to normal. But I love that feeling of new equipment, what whatever that new equipment is. And
and so I in saying that, what I'm really getting from this, and I didn't know
this until I said it out loud, is that you've robbed me of a lot of that because I've got recases. I like I don't
have anything I want to change. So I don't get to have that euphoria anymore. I've got to maintain the same euphoria
that I have. So you've robbed me of this, Brad. No, I'm so sorry. But you do have that two-year journey. You're only
one year, you're not even a year down the road, right? of of of new
discoveries. Um, and you know, the thing about it is that the world that we live
in as musicians, it's it's subtle, you know, and I think there's ne there's an unending supply of subtleties that we
can can explore. Um, like just this morning I, you know, yesterday I I took
new inventory of the Arya reads. So, I was, you know, I always when I get a new
batch, I go and take a few boxes and I break them open and I play through them
all. You know, like yesterday, I did two boxes of strength three and a half just to make sure everything is where I want
it to be. And to my great pleasure, I did not throw a single read away. Put them in one of the my 20 cases like the
one that you've been showing us. And they're all in there. So then this morning, I played them played through
them twice. And the idea is I'm not just, you know, doing, you know, going through and playing and seeing, okay, they're good. We're we're in good shape.
I'm actually living with them and turning them into the reads that I'm going to use. So, I played through them twice yesterday. Probably took 20
minutes to play through all those 20 reads. And then this morning, I did the same thing. But now I'm like, okay, let's take a little scrape. So, I had
three or four, which are a little heavy for me. The majority feel good. They need a little time to maybe just
totally, you know, break to be reads that I would go on stage with. And then there are about three or four that feel
light. So what are you going to do with a light read? Well, you can clip it, but that throws the whole balance off. I
like a light tip to finesse and minimal tongue pressure, have still spring and all of this. I So I scraped it. I
scraped the back of the read a good amount to balance the way it vibrates in
mouth. So by softening the read, I'm also correcting the imbalance. It felt,
you know, like it's just too a little bit chewy and soft. So, I just scraped down there and now it just locks in and
it feels more playable. And this is okay. Why am I saying all this? Well,
it's a subtlety, right? And it's a read that would either become too soft and I would it would be I would throw it in
the bin or well let me spend 10 minutes with it and see if I can learn something and if maybe I can turn it into a read
that I would actually use. I'm not sure if it's a usable reader. It still is a little bit on the light side but it
sounds good. I can make it sound really good and feels really comfortable in in
its back. I don't have to do any weird cockamin amisher manipulation to get it to resonate where I want it to sound my
ears. Yesterday before I worked on it, it was now it's E. It's where I want it,
right? And I think that when the when the mouthpiece, when the read, when the barrel, when the instrument is producing
the E for me, I can relax and be lazy and it still sounds like it's producing
the kind of resonance that I want. It's an old man's quest, right? We want to be
able to just like why why stand up when I could sit down? This is tangential at
best, but when I lived in Los Angeles, I used to play in a lot of rehearsal bands. And so, like rehearsal bands are just bands that get together, like a
jazz band, somebody's written arrangements they want to hear, and a bunch of people get together and play them. And so, a lot of these these uh
rehearsal bands had old studio musicians, like they not working studio
musicians anymore, but people that were in the big in the business 20 years ago that have since retired basically, and
they just want to play. And the thing that I noticed, I got more in terms of
watching them play in terms of how they use their fingers because they're also probably developing arthritis, right?
So, they were very economical with how they use their fingers. And it was very interesting to see these players that
were great players and still are solid players, but not, you know, where they
used to be. But what they've settled into that might be considered lazy, but is also more than lazy is super smart.
Just super smart. and and I would watch their fingers and I would I learned a lot just from sitting and watching them
and how they did things and how efficient they were and how they played. I I guess maybe that's the optimistic
spin on being lazy is efficient. But, you know, I I get what you mean. Like I always feel like the less I can do the
better, you know. Um but you know, I still play on a resistance setup and I think I always will to a certain degree
because I think so much of my playing is the foundations of it are sort of built on that. But here's what I did. You a
couple years ago put a recording of the Marboral Festival Orchestra with Harold Wright playing Beethoven 6 on Facebook.
Was that you? I I was introduced to it not a couple years ago. It was probably
within the last eight or nine months. I don't remember when, but one of my customers pointed it to me and I was
like so excited about it that I then forwarded it on my Facebook page. Oh, that because here I I kind of don't want
to say this out loud. I always appreciated Harold Rice's playing. You know, a lot of the recordings of Harold Wright playing
solos, the recording technology is not that great. They're not from a recording standpoint that great. And so I never
really had that response to Harold Wright that I feel like we're supposed to have as classical players, right? But
then when I heard that recording, I thought to myself, holy,
you know, whatever exposive one someone wants to imagine, I said, I get it now because that plane was so it was so
amazing. And the thing that I heard that I never really recognized before
was how it's not dark. it it's it's it's a brighter sort of ringing sound that
plays a role in the orchestra that you can always hear it, but it's not getting in the way of anything. But then when
it's time to come to the the the front and and it it just sings out and it rings and I I heard that and I was
like I finally I finally feel like I'm supposed to feel because I never I honestly I I struggled at times like
what's so great about this cuz I I guess I never heard the Boston Symphony's recordings enough and I I never
certainly never heard that recording. It was really really a a game changer for me. I was I was really really uh happy
that you put that on Facebook because I was like, "What is that?" And and actually I I
emailed the the people at Marboro to see if that could be a topic of conversation in this podcast, but they said, "Oh, you
have to ask the recording company." And which I did and they they didn't respond to me. So I I because I I wanted to talk
to you about it because it was it was so Yeah. I don't want to say that like, you know, waking up and scrolling through
Facebook changed my life, but it kind of did. Like it was one of those things, right? Like I was like, "Oh my god,
thank you, Brad. That that was amazing." Well, thanks to my my customer. I I
think that Harold Wright is is the greatest. And you know, I was so fortunate to live in Massachusetts when
he was in in the Boston Symphony. And it was just, you know, all around me on the
radio. you'd hear live broadcasts of the Boston Symphony and it's just like that's what the clarinet is supposed to
be played and I didn't know it was special at the time. It's just what I you know what what I heard. But then I
learned over time that you know this man was special and he had an artistic approach which was you know so far
beyond the instrument compared to what we typically hear that it it really
transcended the clarinet. It was just solid resonance and it was solid art.
Um, you know, we just played Beethoven 6 in the orchestra last two weekends ago
and you know, I I feel like I play it really well. I you know, I've practiced it all my life and I was inspired by my
teacher, Robert Marcellis. You know, his that was a phenomenal recording that that was and remains inspirational to
me. Um, but um, you know, when it's go time and you're in the orchestra, that's a really
fatiguing piece to play. you know, five movements, you're going all the time. It's it's hard on the face. And then you
have to put out these these beautiful soloistic moments and, you know, do a nice taper and secure and, you know, all
of that. Um, he just makes it sound so easy and I
think it is for him. You know, everything about his read craft, he's very crafty with reads. everybody
everything about his mouthpiece and how supremely resonant it was and his ear
allowing for that resonance so that he could be having ease and comfort so that
he could be so expressive. I mean to be honest his approach as a musician and a
clarinetist I think speak in volumes about my inspiration. They they are the
inspiration in another way of putting what I had already said. you know, I want it to be easy, the crux of what I
do as a maker. Well, just if you want to hear what I'm talking about, just go check out Harold Wright. He's he's sort
of like exemplifies what I dream about. I get it. How things get imprinted and
become a part of us and then that obviously has affected the what it is that you're trying to then make in the
world, you know, for other people and for yourself. Speaking of Robert Marcellis, have you watched the video? I'm going to plug somebody else's
content. Uh the video that Ron Odidge made about Marcellis clarinets. Yeah.
Amazing. That that to me is my favorite clarinet video I've ever seen. Uh and I I think Tamoji had a lot to do with with
putting that together. I don't know if you know Tammoji. Do you know? I I do. Yeah. That Tamoji had really good in input in that. I was I was thinking the
same. The the love for the clarinet and and Robert Marcellis and Bonade and all
those people that that Ron knew that just really shines through in that video. And you know, and again, this
whole idea, it's it's I guess they made that movie about the violin that travels through time and and but but like the fact that that that Ron has that
clarinet and has that piece of history that is so meaningful to us as a community, but particularly meaningful
to him like the whole thing is so beautiful and it's just really really amazing and and and especially because
we were we both know Ron and like you know I went to his house and I played his that clarinet and I played that
mouthpiece that that my teacher recorded and performed the Mozart clarinet on. That was really special. Well, guess
what I get to do tomorrow? I get to go hear Ron Odish play the clarinet. Oh,
great. Very excited about it. Oh, and it's funny because, you know, he's just a mere 93 or 94 years old now. It's
amazing. He is in such good shape. I was just in in Massachusetts last weekend visiting my 90 94 year old mother and uh
you know, when you're that age, it's not insignificant. and to be to be moving
around like he does and so active. You know, Ron has has been so kind to me.
Uh, you know, I I spent a lot of hours at uh talking to Ron on the phone a couple years ago just cuz, you know, he
found one of my YouTube videos and made a really insightful comment about it. We had a little back and forth and then I
learned that his sister-in-law lives two doors down from me. And the other day, actually, I heard a knock on my door and
it was Rob who was just kind of walking by going like it was really, really nice. I see him at the playground with his grandkids. Super super nice. It's
just it's it's fascinating to me like what he's done and the elegance by which
he's done it and just how he he is incredibly active. One day I got a call
from Ron. He goes, "Hey, do you have a piano?" Said, "No." He goes, "My neighbor's given one away. Just pay to
have it moved." So, I've got a piano in my house cuz Ron thought of me and very nicely. Wow.
Super super nice. Amelia's consistency with her piano practice is pretty bad, but maybe she'll get there with it.
Maybe she's maybe she'll get It is interesting to me to hear somebody who plays the clarinet in such a traditionally good way. Not like not to
say jazz players don't, but he plays the clarinet as a classical player in a jazz style and like, you know, like Eddie
like Eddie Daniels does. And I I don't know that I would classify Buddy DeFranco as doing that. I think he's
still a little bit out of the thing, but I don't know, maybe that's not fair. But uh yeah, so I'm excited. I get to hear
check this. This weekend is big for me. I get to go hear Ron Clay on Friday. I get to uh teach my my dojo class in the
morning on Saturday. I'm going to go to the A lunch and learn with Kristen Denny Chambers. And then I'm going to hear
Joanne Sternberg play the Copen Certo. Oh wow. Where's she playing it? Uh somewhere downtown. I haven't I I've got
to look up where I'm going. I don't know that yet. I mean I looked at it but I can't remember. But uh it's it's like a
big clarinet weekend for me. I'm very very excited about it. And the cool thing is because uh you know we're both like old now, right? Every one of those
people I'm personally friends with that you just mentioned. It's not every day that you can have a conversation with somebody a couple of thousand miles away
and we're talking about your own individual and I'm like I know Ron, I know Kristen. Kristen's a former student
of mine. Well, sort of I mean she used to live in Tulsa and I too and um she's
great and uh Joanne is a friend from the industry. you know, I've been to her,
you know, met her and stuff like that. Well, but here's what I was going to say about Ron. Amelia and I uh used to go to
the restaurant that he he had a regular gig in his 90s at a restaurant around the corner cuz he lives he lives in my
neighborhood and we he would play every other Thursday. And so Amelia and I would go every other Thursday. And so
here's the six-year-old walking in because she wants to hear she's when she says Ron and Roger, she's talking about
Roger Rosenberg. I don't know if you know Roger, incredible saxophone player and and clan player, but really you play
with Miles on the saxophone. Incredible. But both of those guys when she would
come in, they would walk up to our table and play a solo right to Amelia. And to to Amelia, it was just Ron and Roger.
That's how warm and kind and wonderful those guys. they would come over and talk and talk to her and include her. It
it meant so much to me and it's it's so it's fun for me like like what there's a
picture of of my daughter with Ron Roger
John Manassie and Lawrence Stalman because those guys that come up to hear the gig and then there's a man standing
in the middle of them and to her these are just regular guys just like normal people you know I'm like look you're
surrounded by like sort of woodwin playing legends at at in that moment and uh she has no idea And one day she says,
"Daddy, I' I've got I've got to do something before we go hear Ron and Roger play tonight." I'm like, "Okay." And she sits down.
Take this with us. And I said, "What is it?" She goes, "It's a birthday card for Roger." I said, "How do you know it's
Roger's birthday?" He's, "Well, it's two days before mine." And so we get there and we sit at the
table. She puts the card down and Roger's in the middle of playing a solo. She goes, "Can I give it to him now?"
like, "No, you can't give it to him right now." But it's it's just so great that
like, you know, here's you know, here's Ron got Marcel's CL. I'm connected to him in that way, but also, you know, he
was he's so kind to my child, such a such an incredible person. And not to mention a world famous periodontist.
He's written a book. It's really it's it's stunning stuff. And it's it's it's really humbling to me that I know you, I
know Ron, I know I know Ricardo, I know Anthony McIll, I know these people. I know Evan Christopher, all these people that that I hold up in such high esteem
and I think to myself, how did I get so lucky? You know, like like like well I can maybe it wasn't luck. I mean, I
worked really really hard. I practiced really really hard. I was pretty much nice to people when I met them. So I get it. But it's one of those things when
from a clan plan standpoint, I just think how did this happen? I feel so lucky to to live in a world where this
is my life. Uh it's it's really exciting and I I can't wait. I mean, let's plug
the clan convention. The ICA convention is mid July 2025 in Fort Worth, Texas.
Yes, sir. Yeah. Are you going to come? Oh, yeah. All right. Well, we we and and I need to talk to you outside of this.
I'm I'm part of putting together a one and a half day event. We're going to do Tuesday and the first half of Wednesday
before the convention really gets going. uh a class for adults, adult amateur
players to come in. And part of what we're doing is hoping that there'll be enough vendors there before the
convention starts that they can have some sort of access to the vendors because the uh the convention floor is
overwhelming to people period. But mostly uh even more
extremely crazy for someone that is wants to try clarinets and try mouth pieces, but they don't know. They're
used to their local music store that doesn't have much in it and then all of a sudden they go in this room where every clarinet product in the entire world is there. And so we're trying to
to make it so that they can have insight into what to look for, what to find, how
to pick things, and what to do. So between now and the next time we talk,
uh, think about what it is that you would feel is the most helpful to them and what would be sort of like the best
way if you're interested in in interfacing with them. what would be the most useful way to have the time and to
spend the time and what would work out best for you because that's something that I mean just to say since we're
talking to the the world I'm I'm saying this to everybody that's a vendor and I will be reaching out to by email to
everybody that's a vendor but since we're talking I wanted to get I'm trying to refine the sense of what it is that
is going to be most useful sure I'll be happy to help out any way I can you know
are these younger players did you say no these are these are adults adults okay Yeah. Yeah. Adults, you know, the the
uh the standard sort of people coming back to playing the planet after 20 years or have been playing
recreationally since college or starting up maybe for the first time. Uh that that it's that it's that that that's the
the target uh audience uh for this. So, listen, I got to I got to run pick up
the kiddo, so I got to go. This has been amazing. This I thank you for spending so much time with me. It's really Oh, it's my pleasure. I could spend another
two hours with you. Easy. Um, well, you you you'll probably be invited to do so again because uh I I I'm going to have
uh you know, podcast time to fill up. I'm going to need somebody to banter with, right? So, you're welcome to come
back anytime. Call me. Call me anytime. I'm always always here for you. And thanks so much for your kind endorsements, too. Means a lot. No.
Well, I mean, it's it's it's more true than kind as far as I'm concerned. Uh so, listen, man. I got to run. Thank you
so much, and I'll be talking to you soon. I I want to know more about the mouthpieces that you've made subsequent to the one that I'm playing on. I've got
lots of questions for you. Lots of questions, but I'll give you a break for a couple days since you spent spent so much time talking to me today.
I look forward to it. Be well. All right, Brad. Thank you. All right, man. Bye. Bye. So, that's my conversation
with Brad May. And thank you, Brad, for stopping in and sharing your knowledge and your joy for the clarinet with me
and the audience here. Uh we will see you next time on the clarinet ninja dojo. Before you go, don't forget to
rate, review, like, subscribe depending on what platform you are on so that this
can get spread to more people. I'd love it if more people were able to hear this. And uh there you go. And when
you're done with that, go ahead and check out clanetninja.com. clan ninja dojo. I'd
love to see you there. Until next time, practice
