Best Yamaha and Buffet Clarinet Mouthpieces

Most clarinets in the market don’t come with a mouthpiece as a package to give a clarinetist the option of choosing the best mouthpiece that suits them. In this article, we are going to look at the best Yamaha and Buffet mouthpieces that you can try out

Getting a good mouthpiece that suits you is an uphill task especially if you don’t have access to music shops that allow you to try out a mouthpiece before a purchase. There is a lot to go through when considering what mouthpiece to go by. There is a choice of material, the size of the mouthpiece, the hardness of the reed, the tone of the mouthpiece, and the type of music you are going to play.

Yamaha and Buffet Crampon companies are the two major companies that have been in the musical instruments industry for many decades and they have perfected the art of designing and manufacturing quality clarinet mouthpieces. We are going to look into the details of some of the Best Yamaha and Buffet clarinets so that you can make a choice when you are well informed on the technical details as well as the differences between the mouthpieces. Read on to the end to know the verdict of each of the pieces we are going to look at.

Best Yamaha and Buffet Clarinet Mouthpieces comparison table

Item	Material	Tip opening	Facing length	Check Price
Yamaha Eb 3C	Phenol resin	1.00mm	19.0mm	check here
Yamaha Bb 4C	Phenol resin	1.05mm	19.0mm	check here
Yamaha Bb 5CM	Ebonite	1.10mm	21.0mm	check here
Yamaha Bb 5C	Phenol resin	1.10mm	19.00mm	check here
Buffet Urban Play	Acrylic	1.19mm	17.5mm	check here
Buffet Icon 1	Acrylic	1.19mm	20.0mm	check here
Buffet Icon 2	Acrylic	1.20mm	20.0mm	check here

Best Yamaha and Buffet clarinet mouthpiece review

Yamaha Eb 3C clarinet mouthpiece – Best suited for beginners

Key features

• 45 grams of weight
• 15.24 x 4.5 x 4.5 cm in size
• Quality cork

This is a molded plastic mouthpiece made by Yamaha. It is made with a shorter table to help students achieve deep tones easily and to help them master clarinets easily. It has a very good response to high and low tones that comes in handy for students who want to master the characteristic clarinet sounds. It is made of phenol resin which is resistant to oil corrosion and very easy to clean.

What we liked

• Easy to clean
• Good tone response
• Compatible with many clarinets

What we didn’t like

• Cheap material

Verdict

This is a good investment for students who want to learn quickly and master the clarinet.

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Yamaha Bb 4C clarinet mouthpiece – This mouthpiece is best suited for intermediate players

Key features

• weighs 40 grams
• high-quality resin material
• 4.6×4.6×10 cm in size

This mouthpiece is made of high-quality phenol resin. It is designed from the custom mouthpieces but uses cheaper materials to lower the cost and suit the use which is for intermediate and also beginner clarinet players. Yamaha Bb 4C mouthpiece is very easy to master as it produces highly consistent notes. It has a perfect cock that doesn’t wear off easily and fits perfectly into the barrel of many clarinet pieces. It has a lighter weight which helps reduce the overall clarinet weight.

What we liked

• Highly consistent
• Perfect design
• Easy to play

What we didn’t like

• The choice of material

Verdict

Yamaha Bb is a good choice for advanced students and intermediate players as well. It hits the right notes easily thus making it to this list as one of the best mouthpieces.

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Yamaha Bb 5CM clarinet mouthpiece – best suited for professionals

Key features

• Quality hard rubber
• Custom made
• 45g of weight

This mouthpiece has been developed with the help of a study conducted on musicians to understand their way of play to perfect the tones produced by these mouthpieces. They are carved out of hard rubber which is ebonite and mimics the quality of wood. The mouthpiece is handcrafted in Japan by Yamaha’s experienced technicians. Yamaha Bb 5CM delivers a rich tone with notable clarity and has become one of the most used mouthpieces professionally.

What we liked

• Made of quality rubber
• Very clear tones
• Hand made for quality
• Lightweight

What we didn’t like

• Quite expensive

Verdict

This mouthpiece is a top-line clarinet mouthpiece with a good design and very rich sound. We recommend it for professional playing.

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Yamaha Bb 5C clarinet mouthpiece – best for soloists

Key features

• 4.1×4.5×6.4 cm in size
• Weighs 45g
• 1.10 tip opening

This mouthpiece has been developed from the custom design to give players a cheaper alternative to the custom style. It is made of high-quality phenol resin that is resistant to oil damage. This makes cleaning the mouthpiece very easy. Yamaha Bb 5C standard clarinet mouthpiece produces very rich and clear notes. It is very remarkable for its ease of hitting articulate well-defined tones and is best suited for soloists. Being a soloist’s choice shows you how clear the sound from this mouthpiece can be.

What we liked

• Very clear sounds
• Easy to clean
• Good response and flexibility

What we didn’t like

• No ligature is included in the mouthpiece package

Verdict

This is a perfect piece for doing solos and for perfect sopranos. The best thing is that it won’t put a dent in your pockets.

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Buffet Crampon Urban Play clarinet mouthpiece – best suited for beginners

Key features

• Acrylic material
• Slightly wider opening
• Good resonance

This is a line of clarinet mouthpieces produced by Buffet Crampon targeting the young generation. The mouthpieces are colored with exclusive colors made at Buffet Crampon. You will find black, green, red, orange, and blue colored mouthpieces. They have been designed to attract students and young learners to the clarinet. These pieces are made of acrylic making them hypoallergenic. They have a light response and can play in both Bb and A clarinet.

What we liked

• Versatile to play in Bb and A clarinet
• Very easy to play
• Soft and quick response
• Colorful and bright. Makes young players look cool

What we didn’t like

• Does not come with a cup of ligature

Verdict

It is very exciting to see a big company make a product that helps learners be more enthusiastic about learning. Buffet urban play offers that plus has a good resonance sound. It’s a perfect balance of cost to performance ratio.

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Buffet Icon 1 clarinet mouthpiece – best suited for intermediate players

Key features

• Classic mouth tip
• Hypoallergenic material
• Perfect resonance

This is another quality build from Buffet Crampon which is designed in France. The Icon 1 is made of Acrylic to make it 100% hypoallergenic and also the material is very easy to clean. It has a classic tip opening that produces perfect resonance. It has been designed to be played by intermediate players who want to advance their technique. It is rather easy to play and gives soft notes that are rich and sweet.

What we liked

• 100% hypoallergenic
• Very easy to manipulate
• It has a classic tip to help master other mouthpieces
• It is lightweight.

What we didn’t like

• Doesn’t come with ligature or end cap

Verdict

This is a quality piece and the buffet has gone an extra mile to make sure your health is in check. It is a good play piece and good for gaining more experience.

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Buffet Crampon Icon 2 clarinet mouthpiece – best suited for more advanced players.

Key features

• Longer piece length
• Slightly wider tip opening
• 100% hypoallergenic

This is a variation of buffet icon 1 and has a slightly bigger opening tip that gives better resonance. It is also made of 100% hypoallergenic acrylic material which means anyone can use this mouthpiece without health complications. Cleaning the acrylic is very easy as no dirt sticks to it. The bigger opening tip helps to achieve better resonance and a louder tone. This piece plays better in orchestras and has become iconic as the name suggests.

What we liked

• Good response
• Very light in weight
• Loud and rich tones
• Pocket friendly

What we didn’t like

• It is sold without ligature or end cap

Verdict

It is a genuine quality mouthpiece that fits well in training as well as with advanced players. Its versatility is commendable.

View price here

 

Buying guide-what to look out for

There are a few things to consider when you want to purchase a good mouthpiece. Some clarinets come with mouthpieces but plays may need to change them as they affect how a clarinet sounds and how one plays the instrument. You should know all the parts of a mouthpiece and we are going to show you the parts. Here are things you should consider:

Materials

The type of material used to make a mouthpiece greatly influences the sound of the clarinet. You will also find that it influences the pricing of the mouthpieces. Some of the materials are hard rubber, wood, plastic, and crystal.

• Hard rubber – this is the most common material of choice for a mouthpiece. It produces an average projection and a round tone. Hard rubber mouthpieces fit a clarinetist of any stage from beginner to master.
• Plastic – these are the cheapest mouthpieces but quite durable. They are known to deliver a bright sound but of lower quality compared to other types of materials. Due to this fact, plastic mouthpieces are best suited for students and beginners. And not recommended for professional playing.
• Wood – wooden mouthpieces are very rare to find as they were used in the early days before the processing of other materials was in line. They are difficult to play as sound projection may be hard and also the quality of sound is quite unstable. This may be because the wood has a dumping effect.
• Crystal – this is the best choice for professionals. Crystal mouthpieces produce a bright tone and the projection is amazing. They are a bit expensive for their quality but they are very fragile and need extra care as dropping them would just destroy the pieces.

After you have chosen your materials, the next thing you should look at is the different parts of the clarinet mouthpiece. Here are the different parts of a clarinet mouthpiece:

Parts of a clarinet mouthpiece

• The beak – this is the angled back end of the mouthpiece that you put over your mouth to play. The angle and size of the beak greatly affect your embouchure. The traditional angle is a good choice when you don’t know what angle of beak suits you best.
• Tip and facing length – mouthpieces vary in tip size and facing length which translates to the size and softness of the reed. These measurements correspond to your skill level with beginners opting for softer reeds and thus a short facing and an open tip. Professionals will go for a closed tip and a longer facing. There is always something in between that you can find to suit your level and technique.
• Baffle – baffle is the part that directs air into the mouthpiece. There are different designs and they all play differently. Brighter tones are produced by high baffles while darker sounds are produced by scooped baffles.
• Chamber- this is one of the major parts that affect the sound output of a clarinet. You can play fortissimo easily with large chambers while short chambers produce a more focused sound though it restricts the creation of loud sounds.
• Window- this is where the reed covers. This part has mostly been standardized to accept different reeds that a player chose to use.

Ligature

This is a part that you have to add to the mouthpiece together with a reed to produce a sound from it. Ligatures are made from different materials and this also affects the type and quality of sound produced. Most common ligatures are made of metals that are often gold plated and they tend to give a very bright sound. Playing a metal ligature is easy, especially in hitting those high notes. The only down part is that metallic ligatures wear out the reed quickly.

Another material that makes ligatures is hard rubber. Hard rubber ligatures tend to produce a more quality sound than the metallic ones but they need more airflow to reach the high notes. They are also less likely to damage the reed.

Reeds

This is also a part that you need to add to the mouthpiece. The reed is what produces the sounds when it vibrates. This means a careful choice of the reed is needed for optimum sound quality to suit your needs. Reeds come in different strengths and are numbered for example a beginner is advised to use a 2 or 2.5-strength reed. When you get a new reed of any strength, you will not be able to judge it since it will need to be broken into. This means for a couple of first practices you may find the reed a bit hard to play but it should later be perfect. If you don’t know what strength of reed you need, it is advised that you test using reeds that have been broken into. Professionals are also not advised to carry very new reeds when they are going to perform. They should carry several that have been broken into so that when a change is needed, the clarinetist won’t have a hard time trying to adjust to the new reed.

Final Verdict

Yamaha and Buffet crampon has been in the industry for a long and has worked with some of the best musicians to develop mouthpieces that are not only good quality but also complement a clarinetist. They offer the best mouthpieces in the market and they continue to advance as technology and new ways of perfecting their pieces advance. You should get one of these mouthpieces as we have seen their quality is unmatched and there is a variety for everyone.

Conclusion

In the article, we have seen that there is a lot to check when getting a mouthpiece. The only way to get your style is by testing the mouthpieces practically as different people play differently. It will always be a bit different how it sounds from one person to another. You can visit musical shops to try out some mouthpieces and you will surely find a piece that you are comfortable playing.

FAQS

Q. Are Yamaha mouthpieces compatible with clarinets from other companies?

A. yes, all mouthpieces from Yamaha are compatible with most brands of clarinets. They will fit perfectly and play without an issue.

Q. What materials can I get the Yamaha or Buffet mouthpieces in?

A. You will get phenol resin and ebonite mouthpieces from Yamaha and acrylic mouthpieces from Buffet crampon.