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Re: Variation in mouthpiece designs

Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2022-01-25 19:03

To address the "similarities," I'd say that the cylindrical bore of the clarinet makes it so that there is MUCH less play available in the bore and (to a degree) the tone chamber than there is with a conical bore instrument (all other woodwinds). If you have a clarinet that strays from the standard design then you have to make compensations for that in the mouthpiece as well. One example is the Boosey and Hawkes 1010. That clarinet has cylindrical bore to match (in part due to the large bore of the 1010). If you were to place a Boosey 1010 mouthpiece on any other clarinet you'd get some pretty bad intonation irregularities going up and down the tube (and vice versa). There are some more subtle differences in the bore/tone chamber configurations of the German mouthpiece compared with the French, but one CAN make that work (you just need to know that you are making some further compensations for pitch).

I wish there was a greater emphasis on getting the BASIC dimensions of the mouthpiece out to folks. I know why it is not. It is much easier to SELL something as new and exciting when you don't even know what you are currently using in the first place. Just change a reed and your off to the races. It took me a few decades to realize what configuration was more pleasing to me and allowed me to rule out a good percentage of what comes down the pike, saving me a lot of time and frustration. On that front though I think the best advice on mouthpieces is once you've found something that works great.....STOP LOOKING!!!

..............Paul Aviles

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