Klarinet Archive - Posting 000138.txt from 1994/05

From: Cary Karp <nrm-karp@-----.SE>
Subj: Re: mouthpiece specifications
Date: Fri, 6 May 1994 03:12:28 -0400

Clark:
> > > I try to work within tolerances of +/- .001mm.

Me:
> > In order to know that you are working to tolerances of .001mm you have to
> > be able to measure accurately to one additional decimal place. I'd be very
> > interested in knowing how you do so.

Clark:
> Within the limits of my tools I work within these tolerances.
>
> I think that the big point that seems to be missing in all of our
> discusssions is that instrument making is more an art than a science. You
> can fiddle with all the numbers and specs you want, but if a musical
> instrument maker has no intuitive sense then he is merely a technician.
> Without intuition there is no art. Without art there is no craftsmanship.

I couldn't agree with you more. Without intending the slightest disrespect
for your abilities as an artist and craftsman, given this credo, I can't
help wondering why you feel it necessary to attach any numbers whatsoever
to the quality of your products.

A whopping part of my professional life has been devoted to the study and
application of the tools and techniques of measuring musical instruments.
I strongly doubt that the limits of your tools allow anything close to the
accuracy that you claim, but my query wasn't intended as mathematical
nitpicking. I'm genuinely curious about the way mouthpiece makers manage
the metric aspect of their activities. Any chance of some nuts-and-bolts
info?