 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: seabreeze
Date: 2015-12-30 04:46
This website offers a comparison of German style facings in mouthpieces made by EMS, H. Wurlitzer, Viotto, Zinner, Leitner & Kraus, Pomarico, and Vandoren.
Though in German, it is pretty easy even for English only speakers/readers to make out the tip opening and length in millimeters of each mouthpiece. Does anyone know of other comparison tables like this, focusing on German/Austrian style mouthpieces?
See http://www.klarinette24.de/material.html.
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Author: maxopf
Date: 2015-12-30 05:39
I see one with a .66mm tip opening and 24mm length (ESM P0C). Is anything even close to those dimensions ever offered on French mouthpieces?
I play on a mouthpiece with a .96 tip opening and 17mm facing (Fobes CF) and I believe that's probably considered a fairly close/long facing by French mouthpiece standards.
Post Edited (2015-12-30 05:49)
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Author: donald
Date: 2015-12-30 05:55
The tip opening and facing length are to some extent useful things to know, but don't tell you very much about the curve or how this relates to the other dimensions. Still, interesting- thanks for posting. dn
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Author: seabreeze
Date: 2015-12-30 06:10
The old Selmer mouthpieces from the time when Alexandre and Henri Selmer were still active performers were very close and short but not as close as 0.66 mm. Alexandre played the A facing, open just about 0.89 mm at the tip, and Henri played the HS facing open about 0.91 mm at the tip. They probably both played double lip with very little pressure on these peices.
The German and Viennese traditional facings were longer than the French and could be even closer at the tip. Bill McColl studied with Leopold Wlach and measured Wlach's Koktan mouthpiece facing at 27.5 mm long and 0.79 mm open at the tip--something like Viotto's PA+2 in the list. I have seen a German source (which I cannot now access--it was at www.klarinetdirect.de/, I believe) that said Richard Muhlfeld's mouthpiece had a tip opening of 0.70 mm. If true, I would think that the ESM with the 0.66 mm opening is old school German in the Muhlfeld tradition (the one that inspired Brahms to write his clarinet works). Obviously, a mouthpiece like that requires a very different reed from the standard modern French cuts. Nick Kuckmeier offers a version of the mouthpiece played by Wenzel Fuchs now and says it is open at 0.76 mm.
Post Edited (2015-12-30 06:32)
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2015-12-30 06:48
Just like "our" mouthpieces though, the dimensions are just a VERY rough idea what the mouthpieces do. The Wurlitzer M3 and Viotto N1 are not numerically that far apart but they sound and feel completely different. In fact the ONLY thing they have in common is that they both work great with White Master 2 1/2 strength reeds.
..................Paul Aviles
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Author: seabreeze
Date: 2015-12-30 07:14
Absolutely right, Paul. The Vandoren M13 and the Reserve X0, for example, have rather similiar facings, but for me at least, the M13 has more of a blend of bright and dark and a gentler feel than the more aggressive and steely sounding X0.
Post Edited (2015-12-30 07:18)
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2015-12-30 10:31
I used to play a late '40s/early '50s Selmer Table A facing for a while (and still have it) - German reeds really suit it well as the tip and facing is much narrower than most French mouthpieces. This mouthpiece came with my first set of Selmers.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2015-12-30 10:35
Also you'll find Vandoren's German mouthpieces have a completely flat table whereas German made/finished mouthpieces may often have a concave table.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: seabreeze
Date: 2015-12-30 11:11
Chris, have you ever measured the Selmer Table A facing to see how close it comes to the supposed standard of 0.89 mm? Did you play it with something like Vandoren White Master or more like Vandoren Black Master reeds? Though the Table A is one or two "generations" after the original Selmer A mouthpiece (1910s or 20s?) that Alexandre Selmer played, the facing should be nearly the same.
If you ever want to part with it, let me know.
Post Edited (2015-12-31 00:53)
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Author: Mojo
Date: 2015-12-30 20:07
Two points (tip opening and facing length) can define a line but not a facing curve shape. They can define a radial curve shape that is tangent to the table. But very few clarinet facing curves have a radial shape. Most have more resistant shapes than a radial curve. Generally more parabolic but not a pure mathematical parabola. Some nice playing "curves" even have flat sections in them.
MojoMP.com
Mojo Mouthpiece Work LLC
MojoMouthpieceWork@yahoo.com
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2015-12-30 20:57
The ESM literature describes one facing (clumsily in English) as being mostly open toward the tip, and being more "reed friendly."
..............Paul Aviles
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