Clarinets
I play two Selmer bass clarinets model Privilège down to low C bought in 2005 and 2010. They have a beautiful warm sound, quite good intonation and they are very easy to control, perfect for playing very soft what I do a lot.
The great canadian clarinet technician Morrie Backun has modified one of the original bells for me which I use on both clarinets. I can interchange now between my regular metal bell which is louder and Morrie Backun's wooden cocobolo bell which gives me more overtones and more warmth. The low C has much more resonance and sounds like a tone, not like noise and the balance over the whole range of the instruments works also better.
I use two different custom made necks. Especially for my needs Karsten Gloger has designed a solid silver neck. With this neck the responsiveness of the instrument is even better, the sound is clearer, big interval leaps are easier to play and to control. The second one is a "Heavy Heavy II" pure brass neck made by Swiss instrument maker Martin Suter. A wonderful example of craftsmanship. It's nearly twice as heavy as the silver neck. The sound is very direct, well balanced and I can play with a lot of pressure. That's a big advantage when I play on big stages or in a loud context.
My Selmer rosewood contrabass clarinet model 28, a real eye catcher. A huge instrument with a tube length of nearly 3 meters. In the lower registers the sound is really animalistic while in the higher regions it sounds quite airy. Also the tuning of the instrument is very difficult. It's too big to take it with me on tour so I use it only in the studio for film music and on some of my recordings. You can hear it on the two albums “The Monk In All Of Us” and “Fortune Cookie”.
Saxophone
Because meanwhile I play the saxophone very few I decided to give my old Selmer Mark VI away and bought a Cannonball Big Bell Stone Series tenor saxophone with an iced black nickle and iced silver plated finish. It has a bigger bore and bell which gives the instrument a very huge sound. Although it's a new saxophone it has a lot of soul and personality like the old instruments.
Mouthpieces
I use Morrie Backun mouthpieces on the bass clarinet, model “MoBa+”. I've tried a lot of different brands and types over the years but Backun products are really outstanding. The sound is brilliant and clear, the high and very high register is warm, the middle register has a lot of resonance (that's always a problem on the bass clarinet) and the low register has a beautiful bottom, full of overtones. The control is perfect and it's really easy to combine the different registers and to play big intervals. On the contrabass clarinet you don't have many options concerning mouthpieces. I play a Clark W. Fobes mouthpiece model “San Francisco” which works very well for me.
My tenor saxophone mouthpiece is a vintage wooden Pomarico (refaced). It's a real beautiful one with a huge dynamic range and warm sound. I can play all kinds of music, from softest jazz ballads to drum'n'bass and HipHop.
Reeds & Ligatures
Gonzalez reeds from Argentina! For nearly fifteen years I had the same reed brand in use until one of my students brought me a Gonzalez reed. I was totally knocked out, from the first moment I had a better control and clearer sound. Especially on an instrument like the bass clarinet you really need a good reed for mastering the whole range of the instrument. I can highly recommend them.
I'm a ligature maniac. Over the last ten years I've tested nearly every new ligature for the bass clarinet. Then I got in touch with Florian Popa, a wonderful clarinet player and maker of inimitable ligatures, made out of ebony wood or an alloy of bronze, gold and silver. I have now both versions in use. With the wooden ligatures, the sound is warm, full and round. With the metal ones, the sound is more focused and direct. With using this ligatures I've reached now another level of sound and control on all my instruments, the bass- & contrabass clarinet and the tenor saxophone. Florian Popa also makes unbelievable good reeds which I use beside the Gonzalez reeds.
Microphones
This is always a difficult subject concerning the bass clarinet, especially in live situations. Over the years I've tested a lot of microphone setups with very different results. The best experiences I made by using two AKG C-414 B-XLS microphones. The sound is really natural so you feel comfortable. When I'm on tour I always have them with me.
For the saxophone the non plus ultra microphone for me is the legendary ElectroVoice Re20.
