Klarinet Archive - Posting 000251.txt from 2001/07

From: "David C. Kumpf" <dkumpf@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl] Re:Mouthpieces recommendations - worth??
Date: Wed, 11 Jul 2001 04:57:37 -0400

Roger,

I don't disagree with your statements about the number of variables
governing a student's ability to play on a given mouthpiece being infinite.
(Well, maybe not infinite, but certainly numerous.) My purpose in asking
whether you would publish the results of your measurements of various
mouthpieces is really just to know more about the wide variations you
discovered (e.g. in the Vandoren B45) in an earlier message, and to what
extent different mouthpiece makers are successful in eliminating those
variations. (I'm not asking for mouthpiece recommendations, though my
request might have been read that way.)

Eliminating variation in the specification of a delivered product or service
is one of the central concepts in quality control. However, given the
variation you noted in the B45 alone, one might conclude that the "B45"
stamp on the mouthpiece is merely a suggestion. Perhaps I'm confused here,
but suppose I am playing a B45, or 5RVL, or Pyne, or Smith, or whatever. If
I drop it and nick the rails, and need a new mouthpiece, I think it's
reasonable that I ought to be able to buy another mouthpiece of the same
designation and have the response be identical. Yet that will not be the
case if the variations are as large as mentioned for the B45.

If we have information that says "brand X mouthpieces are within +/- 5% on
tip opening, facing length, flatness, material density, blah, blah, blah"
whereas "brand Y mouthpieces are within + 25%/ - 5% on these factors" then,
I suppose, we at least know that while I may only like one particular brand
X mouthpiece, I can play 100 of them and like them all, whereas with any
brand Y mouthpiece, if I find one I like, it may simply be an aberration.
Conversely, if I dislike a particular brand X mouthpiece, there's no point
in trying another of the same designation; whereas playing 5 other brand Y
mouthpieces might lead me to a solution I like.

Maybe the current processes used to manufacture and finish mouthpieces don't
allow for achieving such close tolerances. But, part of the quality
engineering work is in seeking out and eliminating those sources of
variation. And, if someone producing mouthpieces by hand is achieving
substantially less variation than the factory with tens of thousands (or
more) invested in NC machinery, and that information is widely known, it
sounds like a possible business advantage.

Dave Kumpf
President
Optimetra, Inc.
mailto:dkumpf@-----.com
http://www.optimetra.com

> -----Original Message-----
> From: rgarrett@-----.edu]
> Sent: Wednesday, July 11, 2001 2:28 AM
> To: klarinet@-----.org
> Subject: [kl] Re:Mouthpieces recommendations - worth??
>
> [clipped beginning of message]
>
> I am always very much amused by recommendations for which mouthpiece to
> purchase. Often such recommendations are not accompanied by much useful
> information other than, ".......there are
> many excellent mouthpieces to choose from........" followed by a list of
> the person's recommended mouthpieces. Frequently there is also the
> disclaimer that, "picking a mouthpiece is a very personal thing....."
>
> The fact that the mouthpieces may very well be excellent and that it is a
> personal choice have nothing to do with what amuses me.
>
> Having taught undergraduate clarinet students for a long time - and
> beginners through adults for even longer - I feel fairly safe in saying
> that the variables regarding a student's ability to play
> successfully on a
> given list of mouthpieces is infinite.
>
> [clipped rest of message]

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