Klarinet Archive - Posting 000887.txt from 1998/03

From: Bill Hausmann <bhausman@-----.com>
Subj: Re: Mouthpiece Materials
Date: Sat, 14 Mar 1998 11:45:15 -0500

At 09:29 PM 3/13/98 PST, Kevin Fay wrote:
>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).
>
But the question is really whether it is the material or the design. OK,
and the execution of the design (how smooth, etc.). I'm willing to concede
that by large type (metal, rubber, etc.) material has a significant effect.
But within types, the differences must be EXTREMELY subtle. I know there
are brass players who will tell you that a silver plated mouthpiece sounds
different from a gold plated one. I am unconvinced.

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.