Author: Dan Shusta
Date: 2022-11-19 21:53
Mr. Isotalo,
Thank you for your very extensive explanation. Much appreciated.
I remember playing a Pomarico Sapphire several decades ago. With its 1.15mm tip opening and 21mm(?) facing, it presented to me little to no resistance to play. However, I distinctly remember trying to play a pianissimo note in the upper clarion and I couldn't until I pressed much harder with my lower lip to get the reed closer to the facing in order for a tone to be produced. This is what concerns me about all open to very open mpcs. The longer the facing, to me means my lower lip is going to be on a much thicker part of the reed necessitating more jaw pressure to center the tone.
Due to my having embouchure dystonia, my quest has been in the opposite direction. I, along with a fellow retired symphony player who is a few years older then I am, have been searching to find ultra closed tip mouthpieces. It doesn't take too much "blow back" or "resistance" to overwhelm my damaged right side embouchure muscles which then go into its usual self-contraction mode and I wind up with a semi-permanent "smile" on the right side of my face the next morning. However, after a few days of no playing, the muscles (thankfully) relax and my face looks normal again. So, for me, the resistance as well as the jaw pressure needs to be at a minimum.
I'm sure I'm not the only one who has noticed that European mpcs always seem to have very long facings. On this side of the pond, the long 38 (19mm) appears to be the usual longest facing length. Yes, I know, there are a few with 42 and slightly longer, however, they seem, to me, to be in the minority. Personally, I have trouble "tip of tongue" tonguing with anything much longer than a 38. I tried playing a German mpc designed for the Boehm system and found that the facing length was so long that "anchor" tonguing was far easier than "tip of tongue" tonguing.
I do have a Selmer "A" which my crude measurements reveal have a 0.89mm tip opening and a 30 (!5mm) facing. Due the short facing, the resistance for me is just to high. My plan is to have it refaced for a 34 (!7mm) facing which should, hopefully, lower the resistance to a tolerable level.
I wonder...how are those players who have very long facings able to do a fast staccato?
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The Clarinet BBoard
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