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Re: mouthpiece patina, additional thoughts

Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2006-06-05 20:48

Let's not make too much of this subject. Hard rubber, like any form of plastic, will gradually lose some of its chemical constituents over time, depending on its initial composition and amount of exposure to atmosphere, sunlight. etc. In the space world this also occurs in a vacuum with many materials, and is called "outgassing"; within the atmosphere (like down here on Earth) the same phenomenon is called "offgassing". This is what happens to the dashboard of your car --- the offgassing of plasticizers from the vinyl of the dash leaves a film on your windshield as the vapors condense there; and eventually the plastic of your dash is embrittled by the gradual loss of plasticizer, and will discolor and/or crack. Fortunately, the clarinet mouthpiece is a very low-stressed object (mechanically speaking) so it's in little danger of cracking or breaking from offgassing -- but hypothetically it could (perhaps in a century or two we'll see ancient hard rubber mouthpieces spontaneously cracking?)

Anyway, as long as the interior and facing dimensions remain intact, it really doesn't matter what the outside of the mouthpiece is doing -- it's only cosmetic appearance.

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