 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Djudy
Date: 2019-12-20 13:17
Attachment: 2019-12-19 19.01.11-2.jpg (87k)
Attachment: SnipImage.JPG (8k)
Mouthpieces seem to be a black art to me, so many variables ! I have just gotten a lovely new mouth piece which is lovely to play and has made a great difference to me (S1 by V.Krass) and noticed how perfectly the side and tip rails are and match the reed. Yet some of my vintage mps have very different configurations and yet give good results ('tho on other instruments and reeds). It seems logical to think that the tip rail should be uniform, perfectly flat and of a certain thickness to properly receive the reed tip. I have a wooden mp that performs well but looks like it shouldn't ! I have 2 store-bought brand names with perfect tips that play only so-so.So my question is what's up with the mp tip rail in general? Also found a picture of a mp with no tip? so what is really important in the tip to look for?
Post Edited (2019-12-20 13:21)
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Author: Tobin
Date: 2019-12-20 16:34
The reed seals completely against the mouthpiece several times a second as the reed vibrates — assuming the rails are functional.
I’m not sure that visual inspection is that useful.
Although the wooden mpc does appear uneven on the interior of the window, the rails are wide and that probably compensated for the visual unevenness. That said wood changes shape and so I’d concerned about a wooden mouthpiece.
The second pic? I’d love to hear it — I have no idea how that thing works!
James
Gnothi Seauton
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Author: Philip Caron
Date: 2019-12-20 18:39
Hi Tobin. "The reed seals completely against the mouthpiece several times a second as the reed vibrates " I've heard this often enough over the years and just passed unquestioningly by, but this morning with my first sip of coffee I'm wondering, does it?
Other vibrating materials, like strings, don't have to strike or seal anything to produce sound. The reed vibrates rather faster than several times a second, and sitting here at the computer it strikes me that the amplitude of that vibration at the tip of the reed seems less than the tip opening, at least at softer dynamics.
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Author: Mojo
Date: 2019-12-20 19:00
At soft volumes, the reed does not even touch the tip rail.
As you have found out, it is what you can not see that mostly determines how well a mouthpiece responds. Namely the quality of the facing curve on the side rails. You can compensate for some facing irregularities by adjusting your reeds so they respond well to the facing you have.
MojoMP.com
Mojo Mouthpiece Work LLC
MojoMouthpieceWork@yahoo.com
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Author: bmcgar ★2017
Date: 2019-12-21 02:39
Tobin, I have to wonder if the mouthpiece in the second photo is for clarinet!
B.
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Author: Tobin
Date: 2019-12-21 04:54
Philip Caron:
Quote:
Other vibrating materials, like strings, don't have to strike or seal anything to produce sound.
So we’re not counting the bow that is pulling across the string or the finger that plucks it?
Mojo:
Quote:
At soft volumes, the reed does not even touch the tip rail.
How do we know this?
James
Gnothi Seauton
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Author: Philip Caron
Date: 2019-12-21 05:37
"So we’re not counting the bow that is pulling across the string or the finger that plucks it?"
Hmm. I don't have a good understanding. Plucking puts energy into a string, but its vibration after plucking makes a continuing sound. That seems different from what happens during a sustained clarinet tone.
What about a flute? Or, say, a blowing on a blade of grass stretched between the hands?
What about double reed instruments - do the blades of the reeds touch one another when they vibrate and temporarily block passage of air? I don't know.
I continue to question whether a clarinet reed seals repeatedly around the mouthpiece rail when playing. I doubt that it does because a) I can't see why it should, and b) it doesn't feel like it's doing that (though it's hard to really tell.)
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Author: Mojo
Date: 2019-12-21 19:29
See playing loudly and softly in this link. The reed does not close off at soft volumes. Benade may have been the first to report this. It is in his book.
https://newt.phys.unsw.edu.au/jw/clarinetacoustics.html
MojoMP.com
Mojo Mouthpiece Work LLC
MojoMouthpieceWork@yahoo.com
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Author: Djudy
Date: 2019-12-21 21:30
Too cool Mojo ! Thanks ! That should keep me busy until spring.
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Author: Mojo
Date: 2019-12-22 18:32
I do not claim to understand all of it.
It puzzles me that when playing loudly the players has the feeling they are using a lot of air whereas the graphs seem to predict they are using less air.
MojoMP.com
Mojo Mouthpiece Work LLC
MojoMouthpieceWork@yahoo.com
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