Klarinet Archive - Posting 000442.txt from 1995/04

From: Christopher Rohrs Deerfield Academy 95 <crohrs@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: PROFILE 88
Date: Tue, 25 Apr 1995 18:18:50 -0400

>According to the Vandoren "Mouthpiece Selector Chart" which I always keep
>at my fngertips ;-) Profile 88 means a thinner beak, achieved by using
>thinner material (not reducing the internal dimensions). So the two B45's
>should have identical tip openings etc., but the Profile 88 would feel
>thinner in the mouth. It might (I'm speculating here) also sound brighter
>to the player, as the thinner material might transmit more high
>frequencies through the teeth. (?) I know when I play without a pad on the
>mouthpiece I feel like my sound is brighter, even shrill, but listeners
>tell me ther's no change.

I think you've touched on an interesting quality of the clarinet (and many
other instruments); what we here when we play is NOT what the audience
hears. In addition to hearing our projected tone, we also hear vibrations
transmitted directly from the mouthpiece, through the jaw, to the inner ear.
The audience, of course, cannot here these frequencies.
To make an analogy, when one bites into an apple, one hears a
terrific crunch. However, nearby people hear nothing at all.
Thus you are probably right in assuming that the pad does not affect
your sound; it merely affects the way the sound is transmitted to the brain,
and thus the way you perceive it.

Christopher Rohrs

PS: I have a new Vandoren M13 Profile 88 mouthpiece, and it is terrific! It
projects suberbly, and has a good, controlled brightness. My only complaint is
that it tends to be a bit flat in pitch.
--

Christopher Rohrs
crohrs@-----.edu

   
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