Klarinet Archive - Posting 000182.txt from 1998/01

From: "Leo van Zantvoort" <leovz@-----.nl>
Subj: Re: swabbing really does wear it out
Date: Tue, 6 Jan 1998 08:17:47 -0500

Until now I ignored this thread but now there are new arguments:

First: the reed DOES hit the rails! I have seen high speed film recording of a reed/mouthpiece in action.
Yes, the reed does NOT closing the mouthpiece at one time, but it IS pounding the rails of the
mouthpiece! (and a thought for Bill Hausman: There is a saying in holland which goes like this: a
continuous dripping of water hollows the stone... The grand canyon is also a good example... But I agree,
once a day swapping, 365 times a year, approximately 1500 times in a mouthpiece life time is nothing...)

Second: Tonguing does NOT closing the window of the mouthpiece (if you do it right it isn't!) But this is a
totaly other subject, so I will not discuss it further...

Leo van Zantvoort

On Sat, 03 Jan 1998 16:32:48 -0700, Edinger/Gilman wrote:

>Re the suggestion that the reed is "slamming against" the tip and rails
>of the mouthpiece, so to speak: this is definitely an incorrect
>description of what happens when you play. If the reed were vibrating
>against the tip and rails, there would be no sound coming through, would
>there? The reed vibrates in the air as the air passes through the mouth
>and the mouthpiece;

>TONGUING closes the reed against the mouthpiece,
>very briefly.