Author: Brad Behn
Date: 2018-09-06 22:14
Yes we do...or at least should use that information as basis of knowledge and then make adjustment as our experience dictates.
11.5mm internal width at the tip has become the standard of contemporary mouthpieces. Back in the pre-war era it was more like 10.5mm. Rails were narrower back then too. 1mm is on the wide side of things...like riding a bicycle with low pressure and wide tires - it makes for a detuned, inefficient, laborious ride. In the bicycle world they call it "rolling resistance." And with respect to mouthpieces, wide rails make for a dampened, duller, more resistant mouthpiece, by comparison to a mouthpiece with narrow rails. And in the mouthpiece world we simply call it "resistance."
A mouthpiece with efficiency built into design (chamber, baffle, and material) combined with properly voiced "working resistance" from the facing yields superior results. It allows you to play with minimal effort on a light and lively reed; you can poise your sound by "coming away from the reed" rather than biting the focus in. The core-sound is self evident, which in turn provides little need to bite the sound in place. The facing's resistance curve, then holds the reed in such a way that the sound doesn't get shallow, spread or lacking in support, even though the reed is lighter than would be needed on an overly free facing.
And again, if the window is a bit on the narrow side, it allows you to use a lighter reed, and further the above purpose of efficiency. Bottom line, if one seeks resonance, efficiency is required.
Ideally it should be comfortable to play the clarinet. Too often in the US I see players working too hard. And that is in part a symptom of the mouthpieces available these days. Mouthpieces which are dull sounding, and free blowing mated to hard reeds, with a forceful approach by the player yield a clarinet tone, but is it a good clarinet tone? In my estimation - no. We should seek efficiency, comfort, and sweetness in how our sound is presented. Let our artistry unfold with freedom, ease, and beauty. That comes from the baseline of comfort.
Always strive for the most centered, resonant, sound with great core - while being comfortable. Yes - Tone and Comfort can both be achieved.
Brad Behn
http://www.clarinetmouthpiece.com
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The Clarinet BBoard
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