Klarinet Archive - Posting 000875.txt from 1997/02

From: Martin Marks <mmarks@-----.NET>
Subj: Re: glass/crystal
Date: Tue, 25 Feb 1997 16:58:21 -0500

At 12:31 PM 2/25/97 -0500, you wrote:
>The use of the two terms for me as a chemist is both problematic
>and irritating. Problematic because a crystal is a body formed by
>an element or compound solidifying so that it is bounded by plane surfaces
>symmetrically arranged which reflect a definite internal structure. A
>glass is a material not yet in a crystalline state but whose amorphous
>structure has been frozen in place by cooling below its softening point.
>The use of the word crystal is also irritating to me because it is a bit
>of a con. The fourth definition of "crystal" in my old collegiate dictionary
>is "glass of superior brilliancy, made into articles for the table, etc."
>
>So unless your mouthpiece was made by chipping away at a piece
>of quartz crystal and carved and ground meticulously with carbide and
>diamond grinding tools or cast in a mold at its melting point of 1610 deg. C.
>it probably isn't crystal, but some form of glass (of superior brilliancy,
>OF COURSE, so that the manufacturer can justify charging more for it).
>In any case I'd be interested to read the posting of an authority on the
>subject
>who could tell us what the average melting point is of these various hard and
>transparent mouthpieces for which the word "crystal" is bandied about so
>casually.
>
>Oliver
>
>Thank you. That's very enlightening to me, but why do mouthpieces referred
to as glass
usually have many air bubbles. Is that because greater care is taken in the
manufacture
of mpcs. referred to as crystal? It's probable that the basic substance is
the same and the
difference in sound is due to the molding process. The crystal may be made
with a larger
bore. There are actually only 2 manufacturers of glass mpcs. -
Pomarico(Italy) referred to
as crystal and O'brien(USA) referred to as glass. Various
companies(Vandoren, Mitchell Lurie,
Denman, etc) put their facings and names on these.
Marty Marks