Klarinet Archive - Posting 000166.txt from 2011/06

From: hns692@-----.com
Subj: Re: [kl] Mouthpiece Facings and Breath Span
Date: Mon, 20 Jun 2011 13:35:30 -0400

I'd pose that unless someone, somewhere, has done some very exact record
keeping for a very long time for Mr. Deplus to extract his comments, no
evidence exists to substantiate Deplus' comments, and speculation is really all
we have. Considering the number of players, countries, instruments,
personal technical idiosyncrasies, mouthpieces, reeds and everything and
anything else that goes along with playing the instrument, we really have never
had the ability, and maybe not even with the advent of computer technology to
assist, to prove or disprove any trends regarding MP facings and breath
spans.

Lee Ann Hansen

In a message dated 6/20/2011 11:36:22 A.M. Central Daylight Time,
joseph.wakeling@-----.net writes:

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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