 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: interd0g
Date: 2009-01-27 17:50
I am getting back to the clarinet after a long absence and on finding this board. I realise there is a mass of detail neither I nor my original teacher thought about.
Looking at my array of mouthpieces I have a Vandoren 5jb used specifically for jazz and section work and variuos others including stock yamahas in various configurations and a stock Buffet f3a.
Exept for the Vandoren, when you look at the flat platform on which sits the reed, there is a concave , well, concavity, right between the lines defining the ligature position, along the long axis of the mp.
So when held against a straight edge you see light through this area.
The max gap in this valley must be say 0.2mm.
The vandoren is flat,flat.
The yamahas and buffet have had almost no use but they are all at least 10 years old.
Is this concavity intentional and does it matter?
By the way contrary to other's experience the stock Buffet seems to play really well.
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Author: kdk
Date: 2009-01-27 18:27
Many mouthpieces are designed with that slight concave area under the ligature. It is meant to provide more spring in the reed. My impression is that it's done with closer-tipped mouthpieces to keep the reed from closing as easily as it might with a flat table. The likelihood is that the curve in the tables of the mouthpieces you're looking at is intentional. It may be that your Vandoren is flat either because it's a jazz facing (probably very open-tipped) or because it's been re-faced and the person who did the facing cut into the table and flattened it. Two Vandorens I've just checked (they happened to be on my desk - an M13-Lyre and an M-15, both Series 13) both seem to have concave tables.
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Author: Alseg
Date: 2009-01-27 18:50
This is common and intentional, BUT be sure that the concavity does not extend to the window (the open area between the rails that leads to the chamber). If it does, air can leak onto the table under the reed.
Former creator of CUSTOM CLARINET TUNING BARRELS by DR. ALLAN SEGAL
-Where the Sound Matters Most(tm)-
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Author: Grabnerwg
Date: 2009-01-28 02:05
A concave table is nothing new. Many Vandoren mouthpieces have a concave table. You can see the same thing on some old Kaspars, presumably and painstakingly applied by hand.
The amount of concavity does not chage the basic tone of the mouthpiece. It does however contribute to the response of a mouthpiece.
A mouthpiece with a measurable concavity will take a slightly softer reed than a mouthpiece with the same facing, but a flat table.
Walter Grabner
www.clarinetxpress.com
Hand finished clarinet mouthpieces
twitter.com/waltergrabner
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2009-01-28 17:19
I rarely disagree with Walter (who knows mouthpieces far better than I), but in my own experiments with adding a concavity to the center of the table I've found no noticeable effects. But perhaps my sensitivity was set too high.......
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