Vandoren Black Diamond Family of Bb Clarinet Mouthpieces

Note, these are the STANDARD density mouthpieces. If you're interested in the HD versions, just click here for the BD4, BD5 or BD6 (no BD2 or BD7 HD have been released yet in HD). 

Vandoren started releasing their Black Diamond (BD) Mouthpieces in 2015, and they have continued to iterate on this series. I personally have played the BD7 (the largest tip opening) for the past few years (and you can hear it on almost all of my clarinet demo videos on those product pages). I've recently moved to the newest, the BD6 (HD), which has a slightly smaller tip opening than the BD7

The brand-new BD2 is definitely the closest mouthpiece of the bunch. But you'd think that the rest "go up" from there, getting bigger/longer or whatever. For some reason, that's not the case. Nope. From smallest to biggest it goes BD2, BD5, BD4, BD6, BD7. Thanks Vandoren. 

Also, interesting to note the beak length on the mouthpieces get shorter from BD4 to BD7. I never noticed this before I took the photo of the four of them together, but hey, there you go. Does it make a difference? I guess so? But your mileage will vary — and will probably vary more due to the facing than to this feature.

Finally, have a look at the picture of the boxes together to get a sense of what reeds should pair with these mouthpieces. Fortunately, I sell reeds individually, so you can get one or two of each just to see what works best for you. 

Note, these mouthpieces are the Traditional series, not the "13 series", which are lower-pitch. I find that the "13 series" models of Vandoren BD mouthpieces quite often play too flat, and require an investment in a shorter barrel. Why bother? The Traditional is the way to go.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk. 

Mouthpiece Details: 

BD2

• Tip Opening: 102 (Very short. We're getting in range of the old German mouthpiece facings here!)
• Facing Length: Medium Long

BD4

• Tip Opening: 115.5 (Medium)
• Facing Length: Medium Long

BD5

• Tip Opening: 113 (Medium)
• Facing Length: Medium

BD6

• Tip Opening: 121 (Medium open)
• Facing Length: Medium

BD7

• Tip Opening: 113 (Open)
• Facing Length: Long