Klarinet Archive - Posting 000270.txt from 2001/07

From: GrabnerWG@-----.com
Subj: RE: [kl] Re:Mouthpieces misconceptions!!!!!
Date: Wed, 11 Jul 2001 04:57:56 -0400

Walter says:

The following is an excerpt from a previous post. Based on my experiences working with finished mouthpieces and mouthpiece blanks I firmly believe that the following expresses a misconception - one that we would all LIKE to believe, but which is far from the reality of the situation:

I quote -

<<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.>>

Walter continues:

I think that we are all forgetting that mouthpieces are made of RUBBER.

Yes, hard rubber, but still rubber, a flexible material.

Why? Well, we like the sounds it produces. We would also love wood, and use it all the time, if it didn't warp and change so much with moisture and humidity.

Now please consider. Rubber is a flexible material. The mouthpiece "blanks" are made from liquid rubber poured into a mold and allowed to harden. They are then "machined" somewhat, according to the process of the individual manufacturer.

Now, please consider what happens to the rubber as the material cools in the mold. Bepending on outside temperature, humidity, and the exact composition of the rubber itself, it will shrink or change in various directions. Some of these will be so slight as to defy any but the most ardent inspector.

(Walter was a manufacturing consultant in a previous life, and has toured many facilities that mold products in a similar fashion. He has also molded mouthpieces and barrels himself, in an attempt to understand the variables introduced).

We are not working here in titanium or steel. It's RUBBER. It will vary. We need to reconcile ourselves to that fact and realise that "Models" "styles" and "facings" will and DO vary from mouthpiece to mouthpiece. That at best, these are nothing but guidelines.

Each mouthpiece is an individual, and until we abandon rubber as our favored material, and go to something that can be machined as closely as the above quote suggests, and does not change after, we need to reconcile ourselves to this fact.

I hope this helps to clear up some of the confusion. I myself would like to understand why mouthpieces change, and I know that they do, after initial manufacture.

Respectfully,

Walter Grabner
clarinetxpress.com

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