Woodwind Accessories

This page carries reviews of various accessories for woodwind instruments--both exceptionally good and remarkably bad.

Click for Special Discussions on:

• Instrument Stands
• Instrument Cases
• Woodwind Ligatures

Picks

Stuff to Dance About!

• Pack-A-Stand: Convenient safety for your clarinet. Yep, Pack-A-Stand is the brand name. This stand allows the clarinet to be set vertically on the floor when not in use. Folds and stores inside the bell.
• Konig & Meyer (K&M) Flute/Clarinet/Soprano Sax Stands. Legs and peg are all attached together to prevent lost parts. Also, the flute peg is long enough to avoid overstressing the foot joint, even on b-foot flutes. Won't fold as compact as a Moreschi or a B&G, but still a very small package.
• Belmonte/Stagecraft/LA Sax/LP Saxophone Stands & Music Stands. Good, solid stands at a decent price. Sturdy & well-designed. I don't have an address or web link for this company, so visit your local music store and view their products for yourself. Similar quality sax stands are made by LP and by Stageline.
• Runyon Mouthpiece Patches (clear)  Protects the upper surface of any woodwind mouthpiece from player toothmarks, and provides a slight cushion for the player's teeth from the vibration of the mouthpiece. Not as thick or springy as Runyon black patches or the Yamaha patches, and thus less likely to cause a student to play flat. (that means out of tune, parents)
• Runyon Thumb Protector. Available for clarinet and saxophone. Good design and high comfort.
• Meyer Saxophone Mouthpieces - As advanced students get to the point where they need a better mouthpiece than the one that came on the instrument, this brand is the first one to look at. They are among the cheapest to buy, although they have a long tradition with top jazz players particularly on alto sax. Even on tenor or bari, the difference between the Meyer and your old stock mouthpiece is startling. It might not be the last mouthpiece you ever buy, but it's probably the best choice for that first step up. Try one out before spending 2-3 times as much on metal models.
• Vandoren Woodwind Mouthpieces - For clarinet, this brand provides the ultimate combination of low cost and professional quality. For saxophone, they are comparable with Meyer. As with Meyer, many players come to this brand for their first step up, and keep returning to it. Extensive information on models and facings available online.
• The Click-Barrel for Clarinet - Tuning the clarinet is always a thorny enterprise. When sharp, we have to pull the barrel out, introducing possible mechanical instability. When flat, (particularly because of a cold environment) we are in trouble. Enter the Click Barrel. It adjusts in 1mm 'clicks' from 61 to 67 mm (most clarinet barrells are 65 or 66mm) and stays all the way down on the cork. This device is handy both for beginners and for sax players who double clarinet. Not only does it provide a correction for flat pitch, it provides a means for measuring how far your pitch is from the norm. For example, I normally play clarinet with the barrel at 67-68mm, but reduce that to 66mm when playing mostly alto sax and 65mm when playing mostly tenor sax. This helps me measure the 'sax pollution' in my enbouchure.
• Oleg Ligatures, Sax Stands and Sax Straps - Oleg's creative and high quality products are sure to be to 21st century woodwind players the kind of boon that Santy Runyon's products were to those of the 20th century. Most of these are more costly, higher-end products, but his beautiful chain ligatures, his folding alto sax stand, and his ergonomic sax strap are terrific examples of creative invention in a field where there seemed to be nothing left to invent.

Pans 

Close, but no Cigar...

• Runyon Mouthpiece Patches (black) - For some reason, several band directors like these. I don't know why. It's like having a piece of automobile tire glued on the mouthpiece, and may be forcing students mouths far enough open to cause intonation problems. Try the clear model (see Picks) first.
• Yamaha Mouthpiece Patches. Available in 0.5mm and 0.3mm thicknesses. The 0.3 might do in a pinch, but these patches seem to be too soft and springy for my liking. As with the Runyon black patches, they may cause intonation problems with young clarinet players.
• Moreschi and B&G Woodwind Stands - These are similar models which are characterized by having two separate identical parts that fit together via complimentary slots. Their chief advantage is that when disassembled, they are flat enough to use as a bookmark. The chief disadvantage is that the peg on the flute model is very short, and that's a lot of stress for the foot joint to bear alone--particularly with a younger student. The second disadvantage is that the stand breaks down into two separate parts--one of which could be easily lost. Third disadvantage is that they are grossly overpriced at $20 a pop. A K&M or a Spyder stand would be a far better value.
• Fast-Fit Mouthpiece System (Musical Innovations Corp.) - Another nifty idea from the inventors of the Click Barrel, but one which is problematic in practice. The idea is one of making the mouthpiece and ligature a single unit and crafting reeds that will fit in place every time. On the surface, this would seem quite practical. The problem lies in the fact that the system can only use reeds which have a slot cut out of the middle, and which can only be bought from--you guessed it--Musical Innovations. Aside from their difficulties in properly assembling reeds, beginning woodwind players have a nasty habit of snagging reeds frequently on every surface imaginable. This creates an on-the-spot demand for reeds that makes it desirable to minimize price and maximize availability. While I am a big fan of this company,  this particular 'innovation' gets a thumbs-down from me.
• Soft Saxophone "Gig Bags" - STAY AWAY! In the year 2000 so far, I have had two students nearly demolish their saxophones while using these bags. These were the only two of my students who employed such bags. Professionals have largely turned away from these. Musicians needing lightweight cases would do well to look at cases made by Protec, or hard-shell flight cases of a reputable brand.

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