I am trying to understand with what appears to me, to be he
contradictory statements on clarinet MPC flat spots. 
ko4py states in post 3357, that a flat on an M13 (or was it a 15) gave
an inferior tone when compared with other similar pieces without the
flat. Here I assume he is refering to the facing and not the table ?
Was this inferior tone not sufficiently "Classical" ?
 Post 765 seems to give a different perspective.
I have just cloned a J5B facing, from the files section, on a
Graftonite and am delighted with the response and tone of this MPC,
with it's long flat in the centre of the facing. 
It is also very tolerant of differing reed strengths.
Perhaps we are not comparing 'like with like' here?  as the J5B is an
open faced jazz piece, with a non-classical tone.
Maybe flats are more beneficial on open lays, where the classical
tone is not required ? 
 Not all clarinettists aspire to a classical tone.           Eddie
 

--- In MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com, "Edward McLean" <ewmclean@s...> 
wrote:
> I am trying to understand with what appears to me, to be he
> contradictory statements on clarinet MPC flat spots.

Contradictions will exist.  Both a valid experiances reported to this 
group.  After many reported experiances, some generalities can be 
made.  Maybe even some consensus.

I think we can say that some, possibly many, good clarinet facings have 
flat sections.  Some, possibly many, do not.  Some have uneven rails.

I think it's a matter of what you're looking for. 

I use several M15's, as well as other mouthpieces, including some
wide-open stuff like Portenoy. All of my M15's have a near near
perfectly radial (circular) facing, except one. All have flat tables
(now). The one that has a flat spot on the facing has a sound that's
was less resonant, and more reedy, thin and edgy that the others. 

I am looking for a very classical sound - like Karl Leister or Ricardo
Morales. The approach is a close mouthpiece (like M15 with 103.5 tip)
with Vandoren #4 reeds, which is quite different than the more open
sound like 5JB (147 tip). They really are opposite ends of the sound
spectrum. The 5JB is really lively and has quite a bit of zing in the
sound, which is not considered a liability for jazz playing, whereas I
am looking for a pure dark, resonant sound with no hint of any reed
sounds in it. I guess that's the difference. 

- Brent -


--- In MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com, "Keith Bradbury"
<kwbradbury@y...> wrote:
> --- In MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com, "Edward McLean" <ewmclean@s...> 
> wrote:
> > I am trying to understand with what appears to me, to be he
> > contradictory statements on clarinet MPC flat spots.
> 
> Contradictions will exist.  Both a valid experiances reported to this 
> group.  After many reported experiances, some generalities can be 
> made.  Maybe even some consensus.
> 
> I think we can say that some, possibly many, good clarinet facings have 
> flat sections.  Some, possibly many, do not.  Some have uneven rails.

I find reed buzz comes from softer reeds (used on wider tips).  Flat spots
can donate their own edgy sound on a sax mouthpiece, but I have not noticed
a lot in clarinet tone.  But then again, I do not dabble in close tips with
very hard reeds.


		
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Thanks all for comments on flat spots.
I might try an experiment with two identical blanks giving one a curve
and the other the same curve plus a flat spot. If so, I will report my
findings, but I think that getting two curves to match exactly on the
small dimensions of a clarinet piece is difficult enough without
adding the flat.  This may effect the test results slightly.    Eddie