i have been playing clarinet for 2 years and i have 2 horns,a plastic yamaha and a wooden buffet R13.i bought the buffet therr months ago and it has a wonderful tone,but many times when i play it it sounds too airy,i mantain it well,so are the reeds causing an airy tone or is it something ive done wrong?

I had that problem for a while, too. It was mostly because my reed was in the wrong place (or whatever) just by a little. Or your fingers might not be on the keys completely. But I think you just have to adjust your reed a little.

hey, i`m a sax player, and we have the same probs. It could be a leak in your instrument, but most likely you just need to play around with your reed and adjust it a bit until it sounds better. Do you think the reeds your using are to hard?

It may be that you simply aren`t using your air sufficiently. Try thinking about using your air to produce sound more than simply pushing through the clarinet. This is not always the problem but try it.

Oh, of course, there`s NEVER ANYTHING wrong with the Buffet!

If you are used to playing a plastic instrument, these instruments will be easier to blow through than a wooden Buffet. You might be hearing air leaking from the embouchure due to the reistance of the horn. Unless there is a leak in the instrument, this is most likely the cause.

I also play both a plastic and a wooden clarinet. I have been playing for 8 years now and I too have the same problem. Most of the time it is the reed or the mouthpiece might have to be cleaned. If it still gives you a problem take it to get it checked for leaks unless you know how to check for them yourself. I hope everything works out.

ive been playing the clarinet for 6 or 7 years now and i have a plastic yamaha clarinet and i have a nice sound from what teachers tell me. for me to get a good sound i need good air support and a nice firm ambisure ,reeds will also help and the size ,size 3 1/2 is good for now . vandoran and la voz are good reeds to choose from.

gil

It could well take up to a year for you to break in your wooden clarinet. The poster who said it was more resistant than a plastic one was right. You just need to get used to it. It is quite likely that you are using reeds that are too hard as when I do this my sound becomes quite airy too. If you don`t think you are using the wrong strength, then just file the reed down a little. See what happens.

Hello everyone from Spain. Here is my opinion.

Any wooden clarinet accepts a much bigger air stream than a plastic clarinet. I switched from plastic to a E-11 a month ago and I was warned by my theacher that I would feel the clarinet completely different in that sense.

Be sure to use a proper reed (not too soft, not to hard I use Vandoren 2&1/2myself). One more thing: are you using the original mouthpiece? If you can get yourself a Vandoren B40 instead of the one included with your Buffet I think it would also help?.

Hope this hels you.

I think that a new mouthpiece would be a good thing to try because i just recently did that with my wooden clarinet and it sounds like ten times better.