Hi,

To give some background, first off, I have been playing clarinet for about 8 years. I am in my church orchestra and 1st chair Wind Ensemble at school. I own a Yamaha Allegra 550 wood clarinet, Vandoran B45 mouthpiece, Vandoran optimum ligature, and play on Vandoran v12 size 4. And 2 months ago I had my instrument looked at.

Well, lately I have been getting a very airy sound and I am not having a very easy time blowing into my instrument and I have been squeeking alot. Could it be a leak, instrument problem, my technique, or what? Please help, I have all- state tyrouts in 1.5 months!

What has changed physically? Did you recently change mouthpieces or set up in some way?
Is the tone problem throughout all registers?
The reed size seems a bit heavy. Have you tried maybe a 3 or 31/2 reed? Has the mouthpiece been damaged? Is it just time for a new reed. I assume that you are breaking in a couple of reeds as your performance reeds get worn out. From your experience, I assume these things have been checked, but I have to start somewhere.

to answer your questions:
-A couple of months ago I got my new ligature
-The tone is worst in the throat tones, but airy in all registers
-I will try a V12 size 3.5 next time I go to the music store.
-And I have 4 reeds that are brocken in at a time and I try to rotate

good old common sense approach would be to check the ligerature and try the old one again while at home, for the squeak problem. I usually have a problem like squeaks or airy sound from a poor quality or poorly prepared reed. I don`t know which number of reed to tell you to use, as it is your judgement. Some brands of #4 are different than others and individual mouthpieces respond differently.
You could experiment by taking a reed that you are practicing with that seems airy, and stroking it on a piece of fine sand paper (the flat part of the reed that you place on the mouthpiece). Stroke it from the bottom straight to the tip section on the sandpaper, not the paper on the reed. Try to put the sandpaper on a flat surface, like a piece of glass and hold it while you stroke the reed on it. There are pages on the web that show you how to adjust reed strength that can explain it better that I. You might also go to your director or another player in your town who has playing experience for additional help.

Well one of the reasons is simple...

You`re not supposed to use a size 4 reed for a B45. The maximum reed size you`re supposed to use is a 3. So it would be best to get a long faced mouthpiece from vandoren if you like the brand.

hmmm, thanks!

would a Vandoren M15 Mouthpiece work better?

Hi. I had a similar problem once. I`ve developed a liking for plastic reeds. Not the fibracell ones, they`re terrible. I like Legere reeds. I`d recommend a size 2.5-3 for the best tone. I had an aunt in an orchestra, and she told me to use a thinner reed... They work magic. If you do decide to invest in a Legere reed, they`re around 15 dollars... But they last for a very long time, and they`re difficult to break. One of mine lasted for nearly two years (I don`t know if they`re supposed to...), and it still sounded great. Good luck!

You should probably ask the store clerk if you can try some mouthpieces out to see which one suits you best rather than guessing if which one would suit you.