Author: Brad Behn
Date: 2018-02-26 19:59
Hello Karl,
In answering your additional questions, the vertical or longitudinal dip on a table concavity runs from butt to tip direction. And the horizontal or cross-concavity runs across the table from side to side.
Table dips, or concavity was original implemented to add stability to wooden mouthpieces which would severely change in mouth while playing. It was the manufacturer's attempt to help make an unreliable material perform without the catastrophic results of a warped table. Indeed concavity helped, but obviously not enough to solve the problems inherent in wood where mouthpieces are concerned. And as a result of hard rubber's increased reliability, wood went largely the way of the Dodo...where mouthpieces are concerned. While wood isn't totally extinct, I certainly would NEVER use it in a public setting. I just don't trust it.
Regarding concavity and how your reed relates to your mouthpiece's facing. Yes by creating a dip in the table, with PROPER voicing, it can add a little more spring, and make a close facing feel a little more open. There are possible issues when the concavity is poorly rendered such as a too open feel, wild response, added bite, dullness, and difficulties in control will plague the experience.
By the way, close tipped mouthpieces can be made to not close down and open tipped mouthpieces can easily close down by how the facing curve is designed. Basically a flatter curve (whether it is open or close) will tend to close down more readily than a tighter curve. So as a facing's "radius" decreases, resistance will increase, inviting the use of a lighter reed, and reducing the possibility of the reed closing off. So to prevent closing concerns, go with a tighter arc, and go with a lighter reed.
Tables were made with concavities by machine well before computers. Concavity is the result of the manufacturing process. As the rubber heats up during the cutting process it swells, and when the facing is finished, the rubber cools down, and shrinks a bit. What is left is a table which has been warped in such a way as to be concave. Yes it actually "warps" but in this case, the warping can be considered meritorious by some...
Brad Behn
http://www.clarinetmouthpiece.com
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The Clarinet BBoard
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