At Summer NAMM 2012, Rico launched their first professional Bb clarinet mouthpiece. Designed by musicians, craftsmen, and engineers with the both the professional and advancing student in mind, the Reserve mouthpiece is completely machined from hard rubber to consistenly deliver the tone and response of a vintage mouthpiece with precise Intonation at an affordable price.
The development of the Reserve mouthpiece began with a search for rare vintage mouthpieces, revered for their tonal properties by leading clarinetists. These mouthpieces are highly coveted and often difficult to obtain. After careful analysis using X-RAY technology, Rico was able to determine the specific measurements and properties that made each of these mouthpieces unique. They then assembled a team of engineers, artists, and craftsmen, including mouthpiece technician Lee Livengood of the Utah Symphony, and invested eighteen months of research and development in pursuit of the perfect mouthpiece.
The result, the Reserve mouthpiece, offers the tone and response of a vintage mouthpiece paired with the intonation and flexibility required of today’s clarinetist. Each is crafted from Rico's own unqiue formula of proprietary hard rubber material. Milled, not molded, the Reserve mouthpiece bore, baffle, chamber, and facing are precision-crafted using CNC manufacturing, resulting in accuracy and consistency from mouthpiece to mouthpiece.
"Building an artist-level mouthpiece requires a commitment to quality," states CEO of D'Addario & Company, Inc., Jim D'Addario. "We have invested millions into Rico to acquire the most precise machinery available in order to offer mouthpieces that have incredible repeatability."
"Clarinetists frequently lament the need to try ten mouthpieces just to find one they can play," says Rico Product Manager, Robert Polan. "Rico's process control allows for incredible repeatability so that each mouthpiece feels consistent every time." |
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