Klarinet Archive - Posting 000164.txt from 2011/06

From: Joseph Wakeling <joseph.wakeling@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Mouthpiece Facings and Breath Span
Date: Mon, 20 Jun 2011 12:36:10 -0400

On 06/20/2011 05:49 PM, Karl Krelove wrote:
> Those are interesting charts, especially since I'm not familiar with his
> mouthpieces over here.

Well worth trying. :-)

> But why, except maybe to expel unused stale air, would a player need to
> breathe more often with the smaller tip opening? One of the things I
> envy most as a clarinetist about oboists (with their much smaller
> aperture reed) is that so many can do their copy of the slow movement
> solo in the Schubert 8th in one breath. Maybe I misread what Deplus
> said, or maybe he said it in French and the translation isn't clear.

Well, it's possible Deplus (or the person quoting him) is incorrectly
assuming that correlation (years ago clarinettists used narrower
facings, years ago clarinettists breathed more) is the same as
causation. There are lots of factors that could explain clarinettists
breathing less that have nothing to do with facing -- higher physical
fitness, superior technical training, etc.

I too would have thought that a wider facing would require more air to
support, but maybe if superior breath technique and fitness is the
answer, it would explain both -- fitter clarinettists can expend greater
quantities of air for longer?

It's also possible that the facing width makes negligible difference to
the volume of air required, and that the internal volume of the bore is
the real determinant. Or alternatively it could be not the volume of
air per se, but the physical effort of support, which affects the rate
at which oxygen is used by the body.

All this is only speculation, of course ... does anyone have more solid
evidence? :-)

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