Klarinet Archive - Posting 000098.txt from 1996/05

From: Nick Shackleton <njs5%cam.ac.uk@-----.BITNET>
Subj: Re: Mouthpiece Table Flatness
Date: Mon, 6 May 1996 12:46:28 -0400

There is a school of German mouthpiece laying that has a slightly concave
table. I have read that this idea is due to Oscar Oehler. It has the effect
of ensuring that the reed is very well sealed at the near end of the table
despite the fact that the string is holding the reed over the full length of
the table. Recently when I was talking to a German mouthpece maker he
emphasised that this sort of table should not be used with a metal ligature.
Up until the last couple of decades virtually all top-level German
clarinettists used cocus wood mouthpieces and had to be competent in
relaying because wood does move. So I believe that this idea was originally
aimed at minimising the effect of slight movement of the wood on the sealing
of the reed on the table, although this maker showed it to me applied to an
ebonite mouthpiece.
Nick