I'm about to add a sopranino mouthpiece to my product offerings.
 I have very few 'nino pieces in my personal collection, and access to
 examples is pretty limited. Any specs such as tip openings or facing 
information would be much appreciated. We've come up with a pretty 
good blank but I really am unsure as to market expectations.
 

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> We've come up with a pretty 
> good blank but I really am unsure as to market expectations.

With regard to the sopranino's reputation for intonation problems, I 
think it is pretty safe to say *that* would be at the top of most 
players' lists.  Considering the small pool of sopranino players, a 
piece versatile enough to be used with both the Selmer and 
Yanagisawa designs (and current Chinese copies of, for that matter) 
should be the most marketable, should that be a realistic or 
obtainable goal.  

As you say, you have chosen a blank, but regardless of facing 
options, stability and intonation between octaves is the primary 
concern for me.  So, ideally, more than anything, I would like to 
see a mouthpiece that would help diminish the acoustical issues and 
tendancies of the instrument itself.  I realize only so much can be 
done this way, but as we all know, a suitable mouthpiece on a 
soprano accomplishes a lot.  That is what I am looking for in a 
sopranino mouthpiece.  As you also mention, the options that are 
currently out there are few, hence my search.  Hope this helps!

Matthew Hanson

I was able to round up various tip openings after a bit of research. I've
got five different sopranino mouthpieces so I was able to compare curves and
facing lengths. The company that makes my mouthpiece blanks for me sent some
blanks to experiment on, and I've found a set of numbers that work quite
well. Of course, I also learned a lot about what does not work, but that's
the nature of design.

  _____  

From: MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com [mailto:MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com]
On Behalf Of Matthew Hanson
Sent: Sunday, August 17, 2008 3:17 PM
To: MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [MouthpieceWork] Re: 'nino mouthpieces



> We've come up with a pretty 
> good blank but I really am unsure as to market expectations.

With regard to the sopranino's reputation for intonation problems, I 
think it is pretty safe to say *that* would be at the top of most 
players' lists. Considering the small pool of sopranino players, a 
piece versatile enough to be used with both the Selmer and 
Yanagisawa designs (and current Chinese copies of, for that matter) 
should be the most marketable, should that be a realistic or 
obtainable goal. 

As you say, you have chosen a blank, but regardless of facing 
options, stability and intonation between octaves is the primary 
concern for me. So, ideally, more than anything, I would like to 
see a mouthpiece that would help diminish the acoustical issues and 
tendancies of the instrument itself. I realize only so much can be 
done this way, but as we all know, a suitable mouthpiece on a 
soprano accomplishes a lot. That is what I am looking for in a 
sopranino mouthpiece. As you also mention, the options that are 
currently out there are few, hence my search. Hope this helps!

Matthew Hanson