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 Teeth Cushions
Author: Lee 
Date:   2001-02-18 16:50

Do teeth cushions change the characteristics of your tone or is it just simply
for comfort? Because I see some people use it and some don't!!

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 RE: Teeth Cushions
Author: Corey 
Date:   2001-02-18 19:21

it's just for cushion or comfort for your top teeth! i use one and it doesn't change the sound

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 RE: Teeth Cushions
Author: Don Berger 
Date:   2001-02-18 21:42

Personally, I like them and have them on all my horns, cl's and saxes. I believe they cure any biting I might do, and, when I single-lip, I have no sonic-vibrations transmitted into my feeble brain to contend with. I suggest them to early students having those problems, subject to their private teacher's [or band director's] approval. Don

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 RE: Teeth Cushions
Author: Todd H. 
Date:   2001-02-18 23:07

I've not noticed a tonal difference when using cushions. The cushions help me keep the bone conducted sound to a tolerable level and another help they provide is in keeping too much mouthpiece from sliding in. I have uneven teeth and the patch also helps equalize the pressure. One patch will last for more than a year on my clarinet mouthpieces, but only for about 6 weeks on my sax mouthpieces and I haven't figured out why that is yet:>)

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 RE: Teeth Cushions
Author: Aaron Diestel 
Date:   2001-02-19 06:07

One thing to watch out for with the patches IS biting. Without the buzzing and vibrations from the hard rubber and this nice coushion one could be MORE tempted to bite the mouthpiece, since there is this fudge factor in the feedback from the mouthpiece.
As fas as changing characteistics of the sound. It is a minute amout since the patch will dampen some of the vibrations of the hard rubber in the structure of the mouthpiece. However because the patch does let one use more pressure as far as biting down, more pressure and a sometimes more stable surface for the reed to rest on is present. Therefor a different tone might be apparent after much use with a patch. I for instance can't play without one. My pitch is thinner and more unstable. With the patch, since i have been using one since high school(3 years) playing withou one is almost not an option. Plus, no bad teethmarks in the mouthpiece no matter how much play.

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 RE: Teeth Cushions
Author: Roger 
Date:   2001-02-20 12:14

I have just started using a patch after almost 50 years of playing clarinets and saxes (on the advise of a grad student from whom I am taking lessons). He notices that occasionally the mouthpiece would slip and he concluded that part of the problem was there was nothing for my upper teeth to hold on to.

It does affect tone slightly. As the patch makes the mouthpiece thicker, the angle that the mouthpiece is in your mouth is changed. (This alters tounge position, etc.) If anything, however, it has improved my tone.

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 RE: Teeth Cushions
Author: Dave Spiegelthal 
Date:   2001-02-20 21:11

I don't believe patches affect tone at all (as perceived by the listener) --- they do, however, affect the tone as heard/felt by the player, because less vibration is transmitted up through the teeth and bones. My favorite patches for many years (on all single-reed instruments) have been the Charles Bay thin clear cushions. I can't play without them any more, and I disagree that they encourage biting (heck, I was clamping down on the mouthpiece long before I started using patches!).

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