Klarinet Archive - Posting 000221.txt from 1996/10

From: Jonathan Cohler <cohler@-----.NET>
Subj: Re: Measuring Mouthpieces
Date: Wed, 9 Oct 1996 08:48:49 -0400

Clark,

Thanks for the info on measuring mouthpieces. One question.

I would absolutely agree that the internal geometry of the mouthpiece has a
huge effect on how a mouthpiece plays (otherwise there wouldn't be a
mouthpiece industry).

However, it is my understanding that the actual dimension of the opening is
a critical element for the reason that I have stated before about the tip
of the reed hitting the mouthpiece at louder dynamic levels.

Do you have any information or data on the distance that the tip of the
reed travels during its vibrational cycle at varying blowing pressures on
various mouhpieces on various notes?

Certainly, the feel (i.e. resistance), tone, pitch of a mouthpiece are
controlled heavily by its inner geometry. But are you saying that the
amplitude of the reed vibration at a given playing loudness is also heavily
dependent on mouthpiece internal geometry? That does not make sense to me.

---------------------
Jonathan Cohler
cohler@-----.net

At 11:18 PM 10/8/96, CLARK FOBES wrote:

> I suppose that knowing what type of a curve one is playing on might
>be interesting, but the internal dimensions exert much more influence
>on the way a mouthpiece works. I can make a mouthpiece with a tip
>opening of 1.120 play very similarly to one with a .96 tip opening by
>varying the internal dimensions.
>
> The facing is only about 20% of the riddle.
>
>
> Clark W Fobes