Klarinet Archive - Posting 000358.txt from 1994/05

From: "Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.EDU>
Subj: Mouthpiece materials
Date: Fri, 20 May 1994 22:43:06 -0400

Kirby Fong's note on mouthpiece materials was fascinating. I enjoyed it
from first note to last. However, I wish to add a dimension that Kirby
did not deal with.

It seems to me that the thing that I drop most is the mouthpiece. It is
logical. I handle it the most. Perhaps I drop the cap as much as the
mouthpiece, but it's probably about even.

As a result of this clumsiness on my part, I had to give up what was one
of my favorite mouthpiece materials: glass. I had a glass GIGI b.c.
mouthpiece that was wonderful until a slight of hand trick left it in
50,000 pieces on the floor.

So, no matter what acoustical advantages glass might or might not have,
I will never, EVER, get another one (because I'll learn to love it and
it will desert me).

Wooden mouthpieces (which were famously popular at one time) warp. End
of that medium.

That leaves us with what we now have: hard rubber. While it chips when
I drop it, it is the only medium with which I have worked that is sufficiently
malleable that it can be returned to its original state (barring some
rather bizarre situations such as sitting in the sun for 2 days).

So Kirby's suggestion about the acoustical properties of mouthpieces of
various materials must be tempered by the issue of damage. That may
also be when the glass clarinet (and I saw one in the 1950s) did not
last, as the bamboo clarinet also fell on its sword.

There are probably other materials that a m.p. could be made out of to
make it safer and I would be most interested in trying one of those.
How about graphite, various metals, etc.

Good topic, Kirby.

====================================
Dan Leeson, Los Altos, California
(leeson@-----.edu)
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