Author: Brad Behn
Date: 2018-08-10 22:47
Paul, I appreciate your concerns. Many players find the tip opening and length information to provide points of data which helps their decision making process, and I expect most mouthpiece makers and refaces would be happy to provide that information and much more to help you best understand what you are dealing with.
However I am sure you know that a facing's length and tip opening are only two small points within a curve. Other factors like the facing's architecture (how tight or flat the curve is) will have tremendous influence over the playing experience. The internals of the mouthpiece - baffle contour, bore dimensions, bore length, chamber length, rail widths, window widths, etc. are all EXTREMELY important in dictating how a mouthpiece performs, and what type of reed a player will ultimately prefer. So I would urge all who have set their search parameters on tip openings explore other elements within mouthpiece design as well.
But on the other hand, that information could be seen as confusing to the layperson, so mouthpiece makers may well be withholding extra facing information to avoid frustrating their customers. I expect most makers would instantly provide much more "points of data" if they new it would sell more of their product.
I know that in my experience as a maker I find it frustrating when a player simply asks for a 1.19 facing. Why - well somewhere in Vandoren's information they list their B40 as having a 1.19 tip opening. But Vandoren measures their tips differently than I, they measure at the outer dimension, and I measure the tip from the inner dimension. I get a 1.12. And I expect that person who might be asking for a 1.19 is coming from a B40 and wants something that feels similar. Issue there of course is that if I am to make something that feels similar, I need to make it with a 1.12 tip opening to be "the same", but then I also have to consider the differences in how my proprietary rod rubber resonates, how my design architecture differs, and how my concept as a player defines my EVERY move on the bench. There is just so much information to grapple with, that after I'm done making a B40 "copy" it will actually measure somewhere around a 1.07-1.09, it'll have faster response, it'll play with more resonance, power and projection, and it'll have character. Yes, I know - that's not a copy at all! But it'll feel familiar, it will have blowing characteristics which my client can identify with allowing for a smooth transition to something I believe would better serve. But the point of it all is that as a maker defines his craft, he is doing it in such a way that can't simply be dictated by tip opening and length. He is doing it by feel, nuance, personality, character, voice, response, blow-through, measurements, etc. Note I've listed measurements last!
And so a mouthpiece maker may well have decided it is better to withhold facing information to avoid confusion, and bad selection by the typical customer. I doubt the mouthpiece maker is holding the information for a sense of proprietary specialness...at least most of us. Facings are merely a small fraction of a mouthpiece's whole, and there is nothing special or proprietary therein.
Brad Behn
http://www.clarinetmouthpiece.com
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The Clarinet BBoard
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