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The Clarinet BBoard The C4 standard

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Re: Facings

Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2015-07-03 02:35

Sure. Here it is.

- Facing length is the distance between the mouthpiece tip and the point where it just starts to curve away from the straight line of the flat table.
- Facing length is measured with a succession of feeler gauges placed between the mouthpiece rails and a piece of flat plate glass held against the table and extending to the mouthpiece's tip.
- French-style mouthpieces (e.g. Vandoren) range from about 16 mm (short) to about 19 mm (long with medium (long or short) in the middle - 17 or 18 mm.

- The main effect of length is that, in general (there are other influences), a longer curve (facing) presents less resistance (longer length of reed is free to vibrate), and a shorter curve presents less resistance.

- The curve length and the tip opening interact so that the actual resistance created *by the facing* results from the combination of the two measurements.

There are other things that can affect resistance inside the mouthpiece - baffle and chamber shape and bore dimensions all have an influence.

That's the summary. There's lots more detail involved in facing curves.

Karl

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