Hi all,

I was reading Bill's message and this got me to thinking:

"I find on some pieces when you back off the sound can change, and not in a good way."

It's something I rarely see discussed, but I have noticed it too, and it seems to me a very important attribute. For instance I have a Runyon Jaguar alto piece that Paul helped me to get. It's not the most free-blowing piece, possibly due to very thick rails all the way around, but it is beautifully behaved, keeping the same response (and tone quality) throughout the dynamic range. By comparison I have a Beechler metal piece which is loud and ballsy, but it has very inferior response to the Runyon in the p-pp range, tending to want to just stop speaking at a certain point. The tip openings are almost identical, and the lay very similar. Perhaps not coincidentally the Runyon is a killer in the altissimos.

I wonder if anyone has thoughts on what mpc attributes would affect this particular characteristic--is it a function of the facing schedule, the rail width, the interior dimensions? Most probably all of those... 

Toby

--- In MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com, "Toby" <kymarto123@y...> wrote:

> I was reading Bill's message and this got me to thinking:
> 
> "I find on some pieces when you back off the sound can change, and 
not in a good way."....
> 
> I wonder if anyone has thoughts on what mpc attributes would affect 
this particular characteristic--is it a function of the facing 
schedule, the rail width, the interior dimensions? Most probably all 
of those... 

The sonic differences amoung mouthpieces show up best when they are 
played loudly.  At low volumes, only the first few partials are 
present in the sound spectrum.  They are similar for all mouthpiece 
designs.  At loud volumes the upper partials present, and their 
magnitudes, can be quite different from design to design.  

As for low volume responsiveness, I say this is primarily due to the 
quality of the facing curve and the reed paired with it.  
Secondarily, a higher baffle and thinner rails can make for a quicker 
response.