 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Clarinetpunk
Date: 2003-06-12 19:54
I was passing some time during my lunch break and i came accross Power Tone Mouthpiece Baffles. What are these? What are they "supposed" to do? and do they work? I dont understand them.
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Author: Pam H.
Date: 2003-06-12 22:45
I think they are supposed to make your tone louder or more full. I used one for a while and found that I couldn't go as soft as I'd like to be able to. I took it out and have full dynamic range again.
If you have proper breath support they are not needed.
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Author: Mark Pinner
Date: 2003-06-13 07:01
Mouthpiece baffles are more commonly found in saxophone mouthpieces. One of the main uses, on sax that is, is to assist with the altissimo, ie. notes above the normal register. Sax mouthpieces vary greatly from maker to maker and the differences are quite major. Material, lay, weight, chamber and backbore all play a part in the sound. Some mouthpieces have integral baffles that are cast or machined, others have removable baffles in various shapes or metallic springs. Earlier experiments with baffling included balls of chewing gum.
The effect of any type of baffle is to disturb the airflow, if not increase it, in the chamber or backbore. This ends up giving you some interesting harmonics assuming your embouchure and airflow are good. Sax mouthpieces are also eminently playable without baffles and some players can achieve the result. I have a nice baffled Ber Larsen stainless steel tenor m/p which is good in both altissimo and low register but suffers a bit from a thin tone. A visit to the Runyon website will give you a bit more insight and some cute designs at a price. I personally think there are situations where baffled mouthpieces are appropriate but mainly they are not.
Clarinet mouthpieces don't differ greatly brand to brand. They are roughly the same sort of shape and generally have square or rounded chamber walls and minro differences in lays. The main materials are plastics and rubber, some being made of glass or wood. They do not vary as dramatically as sax mouthpieces; the differences are subtle rather than extreme. The clarinet is a stopped cylindrical pipe so the angle of entry, up to 45 degrees, of the air is a little like the deflection from a baffle, remember the sax is conical and open so the air goes in at 180 degrees. It is easier on the clarinet to get the notes above high C#, ie. the altissimo, than it is to get above F or F# on a sax. The inclusion of a baffle in a clarinet mouthpiece would only be of a disadvantage.
There is probably a volume issue with baffles but I will leave some room for other comment.
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