 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: oca
Date: 2012-01-04 04:12
Two mouthpieces completely identical except for one factor, the facing length. One is long, one is short.
Pros and cons of each?
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Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2012-01-04 04:26
Depends on how they play. I know some pro's that play on wide open mouthpieces around 1.28mm's, yet others are comfortable at 1mm. The average player plays around 1.03 to 1. 13mm's. Part of the reasons for such a difference is the actual MP. I prefer to play heavy reeds, #4 1/2 reeds, so I pretty much use a slightly longer facing with a decent tip opening, around 1.10mm.
What's the tip openings of your 2 mouthpieces?
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Author: oca
Date: 2012-01-04 05:00
Oh I just raised the scenario of the two mouthpiecew to better understand them. I don't actually have them; although, I wish I did :D
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2012-01-04 09:49
You may be painting a false premise.
Usually, a long lay mouthpiece is accompanied by a fairly small (relatively speaking) opening. A short lay mouthpiece compensates for the short vibration length of the reed by opening up the tip. Two good examples would be the Vandoren M13 vs the Vandoren B40. Of course not equivalent by any means these are the two 'extremes' I talk about.
With a longer lay mouthpiece you generally have 'less control' over pitch and variables in timbre (think the palette of jazz players), BUT you have a much more focused, resonant sound. With more open mouthpiece you get more control but it is harder to achieve the focus. Of course as I write this I think of the 5RV sound (or Cheddeville facings) and the beautiful sound of Harold Wright, but that's not what I'm getting at in my short description ........ sorry for contradicting myself !!!!
.................Paul Aviles
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Author: RefacerMan
Date: 2012-01-04 14:02
If you have two mouthpieces that are truly the same (including the tip opening) except for the facing length, the longer facing will give you more flexibility and possibly a little bit more transparency and refinement to the sound. The shorter facing will have a little less flexibility and possibly a little bit thicker, solider sound.
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Author: DrewSorensenMusic
Date: 2012-01-04 14:04
Bob, I think you may be confusing "facing length" with "tip opening". Tip openings generally have measurements of a short length around .96 mm whiile larger tip openings can be around 1.15 or 1.20 mm. Facing lengths on the other hand have short lengths of 16mm or shorter and long lengths of 20mm or more.
Tip opening is the space from the end of the reed to the end of the mouthpiece.
Facing length is the length between the end of the mouthpiece to where the reed begins to rest on the table.
Further reading:
http://www.ridenourclarinetproducts.com/facings.htm
http://www.runyonproducts.com/article.clar1.html
A lot of this is just generalizations, and you will need to find what best suits you. I play on a short facing with a medium tip opening, and I play theatre shows. This setup would not work in an orchestral setting.
R-13 Greenline
Clark Fobes Cicero 13
Rovner Dark
Rico Grand Concert Select Thick Blank 4.5
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2012-01-04 16:02
One other extreme example just for fun. I have been looking into Austrian set-ups lately and they use tip opennings that are quite small, but make up for it with a comparatively long lay and VERY strong reeds. The problem with this set up is that it is VERY dependent on good reed that are well balanced. There is little room for warping or other natural reed issues. A lot of Austrian clarinetists (even in the major symphonies) are going toward synthetic reeds and mouthpieces calibrated specifically for them.
.....................Paul Aviles
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Author: Caroline Smale
Date: 2012-01-04 19:43
Looking at original post raises question of how 2 mouthpieces could be identical apart from facing length.
If you change the length of the lay with a fixed opening then by definition you are changing the shape of the resistance curve - upon which so much of the response depends.
And of course there are many shapes of curve that can exist with the same length and opening (e.g. Selmer HS** and D lays have same L/W measurements but play quite differently).
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Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2012-01-05 03:04
Hey Paul, During your research of Austrian musicians is there any special mouthpiece or mouthpieces that the pros use?
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