Klarinet Archive - Posting 000379.txt from 2002/03

From: "Bill Edinger" <wde2@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] mouthpiece openings for different size clarinets
Date: Sat, 16 Mar 2002 19:04:11 -0500

This is for all you mouthpiece experts out there: how does mp tip opening
relate to the size of the instrument? That is, as all the dimensions of an
instrument are reduced as you go from an A to a Bb to a C to an Eb, do all
the mp dimensions diminish proportionally? I know that many (most?) A
players use their Bb mouthpieces, so it may not apply in that particular
case, but certainly bass clarinet openings are larger - is it proportionally
so? And if you like a particular Bb mouthpiece maker's style, and you want
to get a similar one for an Eb, should you stick with that tip opening or
expect it to be proportionally smaller (this is actually my current
situation in reverse)? The reeds change in size too, of course, but the
physics of their vibrations is not a simple proportional difference because
the anatomy of the cane is essentially the same. (This is related to why T.
rex couldn't have run very fast, or King Kong and most over-sized movie
monsters couldn't have existed at all - remember H.S. physics? But I
digress...)

Bill Edinger
__________________
Music and wine are one.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

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