Klarinet Archive - Posting 000224.txt from 2003/06

From: Karl Krelove <karlkrelove@-----.net>
Subj: RE: [kl] clarinet vs sax mouthpieces
Date: Sun, 8 Jun 2003 19:17:58 -0400

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Resurgere Jones [mailto:resurgereweb@-----.com]

> But since all saxes have this
> feature, it's part of the characteristic sound of a saxophone.
>

I think this goes more to the heart of it than anything else anyone's said
so far. Whatever the effect of the neck entering the mouthpiece bore and
creating a significant bore discontinuity, all saxes (that I've seen) are
made that way, so the acoustic result is in effect designed into the
characteristic sound of a sax.

Manufacturers of brass instruments have experimented with different ways of
engineering their tuning slides and lead pipes to minimize or eliminate bore
irregularities. I must say that the comments I hear from trumpet players I
know sound as inconsistent and personal as those of clarinetists with regard
to mouthpiece design (and almost anything else about the instrument's
physical construction).

Anyone have the mechanical ability and resources to experiment with a one
piece mouthpiece/neck combo made with no bump in the bore? Walter? Clark?
Who knows, maybe the result could be a sax perfectly tuned at the factory,
like a Buffet Tosca clarinet.

Karl Krelove

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Klarinet is supported by Woodwind.Org, http://www.woodwind.org/