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artistry and consistency. Contradiction?

Author: Jake
Date: 1999-03-14 03:23

Hi all:
it is Jake again, the second topic i want everyone
to discuss with me is the difference between
artistry and consistency. as most of you that have played
hand faced or hand made mouthpiece will notice that
each mouthpiece made by the same maker are different
and you can only find a very good one if you played tons
of them. and they claim their product superior or artistic?
I think in totally different way, if each mouthpiece
you make is different and did not fit your original
intended design closely, then it is a failure, what
make your mouthpiece better than machined one if your hands
cannot get it closer than machine does? how you
achieve the "optimal" if your hand is not accurate enough?
I have heard a lot of makers claim they hand tune
the mouthpiece and make them "optimal" in some way,
but the outcome is every piece of art is different?
my question is. given perfectly made/identical mouthpiece blanks. if you cannot face this 2 mouthpiece to your intended design closer than the machine does, why
we think hand faced/ hand made mouthpiece is superior?

thanks!

Jake

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RE: artistry and consistency. Contradiction?

Author: Mark Charette
Date: 1999-03-14 03:47

Jake,
Hand facing is just that - hand made, not machine made. Therefore, variability is inherent and desired in each one. If we were all perfect clones of each other, then you'd be right - a mouthpiece made to the one oral cavity specification would be "best"; however, thankfully, we're not. The minute differences from one to another make us sound better or worse. Our physiological differnces as we age may cause us to change the mouthpice, or possibly we'll want a different sound.

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RE: artistry and consistency. Contradiction?

Author: Jake
Date: 1999-03-14 03:59

Mark Charette wrote:
-------------------------------
Jake,
Hand facing is just that - hand made, not machine made. Therefore, variability is inherent and desired in each one. If we were all perfect clones of each other, then you'd be right - a mouthpiece made to the one oral cavity specification would be "best"; however, thankfully, we're not. The minute differences from one to another make us sound better or worse. Our physiological differnces as we age may cause us to change the mouthpice, or possibly we'll want a different sound.
-----------------------------
Mark:
I agree with you a bit, however, their variation
was not intended for our physical variation, it
is unintended/undesired. also if one day you want to
find a second mouthpiece that produce same sound
if you love your first mouthpiece. do you think
the time complexity and cost involed in such kind
of exhausive searching is too much for us to afford?
but all of us ,even we are not professional, seeking
best fit equipment for ourselves, once it is found
we always want to make 10 identical copies out of it
but it is always not possible by human hand

Jake

Reply To Message

RE: artistry and consistency. Contradiction?

Author: Mark Charette
Date: 1999-03-14 13:13

Jake wrote:
-------------------------------
also if one day you want to
find a second mouthpiece that produce same sound
if you love your first mouthpiece. do you think
the time complexity and cost involed in such kind
of exhausive searching is too much for us to afford?
---
Possibly. Precision in any industry costs money. A comment on the Klarinet mailing list a month or so ago was (paraphrased):

"The plastic lenses on those disposable cameras are made to incredibly high tolerances; why can't they make mouthpieces using that technology?"

The answer:
"The companies could, but those machines literally cost millions of dollars and are geared towards high output. The number of mouthpieces sold wouldn't justify the expense - the mouthpieces would cost more than they do now."

Put into another perspective: I develop software for a living. You can buy off-the-shelf software that does 90% of the functionality of the software I develop. I tell my customers that if in fact you can live without the extra 10%, then by all means buy the off-the-shelf stuff. The base software might cost $500-1000, but my extra 10% can easily push the cost over $100,000. Sometimes that extra 10% is worth it - that's how I keep bread on the table.

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RE: artistry and consistency. Contradiction?

Author: Katherine Pincock
Date: 1999-03-14 14:15

Continuing the discussion about hand made mouthpieces: as Mark said, the variety is really worth it. However, one thing that I have found is that, for the most part, the individual makers are fairly consistent--there are small variations, but I've found that if I like one maker's mouthpiece, and later I try another of theirs, I like that one too. Each of the mouthpiece makers has a different style they use, and you can feel that.
The other thing is that some of the custom mouthpiece makers do consider your personal style, anatomy, etc. when they make you a mouthpiece if you go directly to them. Most people get hand made mouthpieces simply by finding someone who has two or three pre-made ones for sale, and trying those; however, if you commission a mouthpiece, I've heard that a lot of care goes into creating one you'll love.

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