 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Arnold
Date: 2002-12-23 00:00
Greetings!
I recently purchased an O'Brien #5 crystal clarinet mouthpiece, in
a dark wine color crystal. The only O'Brien"s I've ever seen were in clear crystal. It plays with a clear bell like quality.
Does anyone know it's age or history background? Arnold.
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Author: Mark Pinner
Date: 2002-12-23 09:40
I used one for a while in the army, clear that is, and found them to be a lot clearer and with more projection than Pomarico.
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Author: David Spiegelthal
Date: 2002-12-23 13:41
Like any other mouthpiece, the sound and response of a crystal (be it O'Brien, Pomarico, or whatever) is determined primarily by the subtle nuances of the facing curve, and to a somewhat lesser but still significant extent by the interior dimensions. THE MATERIAL ITSELF HAS LITTLE OR NO EFFECT! As with every other mass-produced mouthpieces, one can find bad, good, and indifferent crystal mouthpieces from Pomarico, O'Brien, Vandoren, Selmer, Leblanc, etc. etc. I've tried dozens of crystals of various brands, and refaced quite a few of them, so I know one thing for sure: It is unfair and misleading to judge the playing qualities of any brand/model/type of mouthpiece from just one or two samples. Simply because you tried one O'Brien that played better than one Pomarico means nothing, statistically speaking. One has to try a WHOLE BUNCH of mouthpieces of each brand before such a comparison can be meaningful.
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Author: buffet^Rc
Date: 2002-12-23 22:44
well, i think the MATERIAL have got to do with the sound~! dun u think the density will make a different??? that is wad i think~! it might not be rite~!
buffet^Rc
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Author: David Spiegelthal
Date: 2002-12-24 13:46
What I know of physics and acoustics indicates that no, the material density of the mouthpiece (within a 'reasonable' range) has little or no audible effect on its sound and response. And my personal experience as a mouthpiece refacer (saxes as well as clarinets) has borne this out --- I can make any mouthpiece, be it hard rubber, wood, plastic, crystal, or the various metals, sound bright, or dark, or loud, or soft, whatever---these characteristics are determined by the facing and interior design, not by the material (up to a point, of course --- if one made a mouthpiece out of a kitchen sponge, as an extreme example, the very high porosity and rough surface finish would no doubt affect the playing qualities). This has always been a controversial topic, I realize, and unfortunately there hasn't been quite enough high-quality analysis and scientific experimentation done to conclusively answer the question (at least in the minds of many) --- but certainly there's been no lack of marketing hype, 'folk' wisdom, and opinions over the years claiming that this-or-that material "sounds" better....
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