THE LESLIE CRAVEN MODEL MOUTHPIECE

This model is now available, exclusively, from Leslie.

Leslie has been working with the world's leading custom mouthpiece manufacturers for many years and finally, in collaboration with Bradford Behn he has developed a mouthpiece reproducing Leslie's ideal facing, rail width, curve and table combined with the optimum tone chamber for most kinds of playing. 30 years of Leslie's work on mouthpieces combined with Bradford Behn's expertise and an enormous investment in time money and energy have culminated in this, the most user-friendly mouthpiece on the market in Leslie's opinion.

The basic mouthpiece blank is made in Hof, Germany by Hans Zinner (see links page for Zinner) it is then customised to Leslie's preferred specifications by Behn in Colorado, U.S.A.

The mouthpiece delivers a dark centred tone, crisp staccato and is capable of facilitating the upper altissimo register, enabling a feeling of security, leaving behind the fear of high notes. Its design helps create a dark focused but flexible sound, enhancing the natural tone of the player.

To try the Craven model either email for further details or arrange a consultation with Leslie to select the best one for your style of playing from a selection of mouthpieces.

Leslie and Lynsey Marsh, Principal Clarinettist of the Hallé Orchestra choosing a mouthpiece

Ideally, Leslie prefers not to send mouthpieces by post (although this can be arranged) but prefers to assist the player select a mouthpiece and this is done in his studio at home. A consultation will take about half an hour and is part of the service, incurring no extra cost.

All the mouthpieces are almost identical in characteristics but small timbre changes between the various mouthpieces offer different colours according to the player's personal preference. Some players prefer more harmonics in a sound and others want a smooth round sound - both these characteristics are available with the Bradford Behn / Craven model.

Projection of the sound is achieved with ease but the Leslie Craven Model is versatile and can also be used for chamber playing as well as in symphonic and operatic music.

The craftsmanship of Bradford Behn is second to none and this is borne out by the fact that since changing to Behn mouthpieces Leslie has used them exclusively, in search for this, in his opinion, the ultimate. Each mouthpieces is hand crafted to the highest standard and they are limited in availability and numbered. They are not mass - volume produced and each order is treated with personal service by Leslie.

The mouthpieces are for sale and are competitively priced around one hundred and fifty pounds plus postage and packing including VAT (although this will fluctuate according to exchange rates.) - not a huge price tag for such an excellent professionally tried and tested custom, hand-selected product. Leslie uses his version of the Behn mouthpiece on the Christopher Ball concerto disc recorded in 2006, and on the new CD EXPRESSIONS CC0059 released by Clarinet Classics in October 2008.

Contact Leslie by and arrange for a trial of the mouthpieces.

 

 

To purchase

Payment will be required in advance if ordering by post. Mouthpieces will be sent on a trial basis for one week and provided they are returned unblemished within 7 working days, the total amount (minus a £5 handling and P&P charge) will be refunded. Damaged mouthpieces will not be accepted by return and will be shipped back to the customer. Cheques / Postal orders should be made payable to Leslie Craven. Payment by Paypal is also accepted for UK customers - price includes V.A.T. and postage paid for U.K. residents. Overseas customers contact Leslie by email for details of postage and VAT details for non U.K. residents.

Purchase with PayPal:

Availability

Currently I have stock (11th November) but these tend to go quickly - so reserve one if you wish to try one soon. I tend to only have stock for a short while, then I re-order with Brad. Remember you can only get this design from me - Brad has agreed to make my facing and design exclusively for me.
Prices may have to increase soon - another good reason to order now - prices for this batch remain the same but increased costs have forced me to re-consider the price and it will be higher for the next batch of mouthpieces.

Jeanette Holder - distinguished teacher of clarinet and piano in the Winchester area"The new mouthpiece arrived today (the second one Jen has bought - Les) it is fantastic !!....the new mouthpiece is wonderful - exactly the sound and response I'd been hoping for - playing the clarinet is going to become an absolute pleasure again and I'm looking forward to building up my playing again. I'm going to order your CD too - there was lots of really exciting stuff on there I'd like to play, and perhaps put in one of my recitals .."

Lynsey Marsh - Currently Principal Clarinettist of the renowned Halle Orchestra

"I'm delighted with my new Behn, Leslie Craven model mouthpiece, it has really helped to clean up production and clarity of tone on my Selmer Recital clarinets. The mouthpiece projects a warm, round sound with ease and is reed friendly. Les has been very helpful in advising me on the right mouthpiece for me and my instrument, and very generous with his time. I spent an interesting afternoon comparing mouthpieces in his music studio, followed by an excellent beef casserole washed down with a good bottle of red ! What more could you ask for ?!"

The latest success of Lee Mottram - he won the National Eisteddfod Blue Riband a prize worth £3000 was achieved on one of the Leslie Craven Model mouthpieces.

Among other professional players to buy one of the Craven mouthpieces is a clarinettist from Malta - Lino Pirotta - freelance Clarinettist and leader of the Denner Clarinet Quartet.

"Playing on a Leslie Craven mouthpiece I discovered a new world of harmonics.The creamy dark sound it makes gives me new pleasures in Clarinet playing. My Selmer clarinets came to life, with the ease of blowing, and the crisp staccato I can produce is incredible. Well done to a real and dedicated artist".
Lino Pirotta also purchased a special order Eb mouthpiece and is delighted with it he says ..."The Eb mouthpiece is working miracles for me. I can pitch the altissimo register better now, and the whole range of the clarinet got better, tone wise."

David Pagett of the Emerald Ensemble

David wrote this: " This is a really fine mouthpiece. As well as its even tone across all registers it has proved an absolute delight with its clear and even response to articulation. Thanks Leslie for a most interesting and rewarding few hours." David Pagett - Emerald Ensemble

Other distinguished customers include Alison Turriff who won the Glasgow Music Festival competitions (- see teaching page).

If you would like to reserve a mouthpiece for trial or come to my studio please email me at leslie@craven.f2s.com
Do read the testimonials from some of the delighted customers, pro players and students many of whom chose to visit me to select their mouthpieces - one person even drove several hundred miles to spend a while choosing - he eventually bought two !!

More testimonials from satisfied customers:

Richard Addison - formerly R.P.O. clarinet & Eb clarinet;

"These mouthpieces certainly are amazing - they are so consistent. I had difficulty in choosing the one I liked most of all.Bradford Behn is a terrific craftsman.I will certainly reccomend them to pupils and colleagues..."


Alison Turriff (winner Glasgow Music Festival);
"Les your mouthpiece played a huge part in my success at the Glasgow Festival".......

Ciaran O'Donnell - freelance with "Orchestra of the Swan" , Royal Philharmonic , etc...
"I have tried Charles Bay, Lomax, Grabner, Vandoren and had a very expensive mouthpiece made for me by Weinberg ......... I have found your mouthpiece to be (dare I say it) perfect. The tone is completely even across all registers and whilst having a rich dark sound, it is free blowing with just enough resistance to remain focused. With V12 and MARCA number 4 the resistance is just right to allow a neat and fast staccato. Articulation in the upper register is the best I have ever been able to achieve. In fact I find the ease of playing in the high register one of the hallmarks of this mouthpiece and plays equally well on the A clarinet without losing the crispness of articulation or consistency of tone."

Other satisfied customers include:

John Franchi : legendary London studio doubling musician : "I love the mouthpiece - it is fabulous"

Alan Asquith - 2nd clarinet English Northern Ballet
"Overall they are so much better than anything I have played on in a long time. The tuning is very good and they play very smoothly and evenly throughout the whole range of the instrument. Articulation is particularly good in the high register, Thanks for all your help..."

Alistair Logan freelance player:Orchestra da Camera, WNO,Ballet Rambert etc etc " Les this mouthpiece is better than anything I have played on..."

Since purchasing the first mouthpiece, Alistair has returned and now owns 3 Craven Model mouthpieces !! He must like them a lot !!

Peter Fielding - Welsh National Opera- "I have two of Leslie's mouthpieces and can reccomend them highly to Pro players and students alike".

Daniel Rye - Freelance with most ofthe Major orchestras
including Royal Opera House, W.N.O. etc...."They are much better than anything I have played on before"

Tom Jackson - freelance clarinettist , teacher , composer:"I really like my mouthpiece it does everything I need".

Numerous students, including

Lee Mottram - prodigiously talented student of Leslie's and winner of numerous prizes - (see teaching page)"Its really superb"

Rebecca Raven - final year student at RWCMD: " The mouthpiece is really great"

Lyndzi Beaton "It is so much better than anything I have had before"


Robert Watson "These are excellent mouthpieces and thank you for taking the time to help me to select one"