Klarinet Archive - Posting 000878.txt from 1998/03

From: "Kevin Fay" <kevinfay@-----.com>
Subj: Mouthpiece Materials
Date: Sat, 14 Mar 1998 11:45:06 -0500

This gets back to our discussion of the metal v. rubber Selmer C* alto
mouthpiece. According to the article on saxophone mothpieces that I
remember (and am trying to find), the difference is not the
material--which does not vibrate at all--or its density, but how
reflective (microscopically smooth) its surface is. Accroding to the
article, metal sax mouthpieces of identical interior dimensions will
have a softer (quality, not volume) sound because the metal is actually
a "rougher" surface than hard rubber.

I believe this is true, given my own experiments on a number of the
C*s--back when I was in school, a couple of friends of mine an I took
several of each, a box of reeds and a six pack to test the theory.

I suspect that the vandorens do indeed have a brighter sound because of
the quality of the interior finish of their mouthpieces. (Incidentally,
the absolutely loudest/raunchy alto mouthpiece I have is hard rubber--a
Vandoren. It's blue).

kjf

----Original Message Follows----
Date: Fri, 13 Mar 1998 19:04:57 -0600 (CST)
From: Roger Garrett <rgarrett@-----.edu>
Subject: Re: Re: Vandoren Mouthpiece

Actually Bill, if you reread many of the posts of the people who claim
materials make no difference, they speak of materials in the clarinet
itself, not the mouthpiece. Most of them concede that that mouthpiece
materials actually do resonate/vibrate significantly to affect the
sound.
I thought you believed this too....don't you?

Roger Garrett
IWU

On Fri, 13 Mar 1998, Bill Hausmann wrote:

> At 09:27 AM 3/13/98 EST, Tom (Ridenour?) wrote:
> >The rubber the Woodwind Company has used in the past is the same as
> Vandorens,
> >but I hope and think they are changing to a material with a darker,
purer,
> >warmer sound, sans the edge so frequently found in the upper register
of
> >Vandorens.
>
> Oh, geez! Are we now saying that not only does the material make a
> difference but, in mouthpieces at least, the particular FORMULATION of
the
> same basic material (hard rubber) makes a difference?
>
>
>
>
> Bill Hausmann
bhausman@-----.com
> 451 Old Orchard Drive
http://www.concentric.net/~bhausman
> Essexville, MI 48732
http://members.wbs.net/homepages/z/o/o/zoot14.html
> ICQ UIN
4862265
>
> If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the band is too loud.
>

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