Continuing now, about the need for a large-bore mouthpiece (from two messages before). I have searched high and low, asked all around, tried this and that, old and new, and turned up NO mouthpieces that sound nearly as good as the two original Pruefer pieces that I was lucky to obtain. I sold one with a PST to a happy client, and have one for myself, but I have four more PST horns that I will want to sell when I restore them, and I want them to have that BIG sound and free-blowing quality. I tried enlarging the bore and chamber of some standard MPs, but that only helped a little and it's risky. As an alternative to a large-bore MP, I took the next logical approach ... after I made an odd discovery.
With a standard MP, when I left a 2-3mm gap below the MP, it enriched the tone from bottom to part-way up the clarion. This is amazing, because on a normal clarinet, it spoils the tone. It did mess up the highs, so it wasn't a solution, but it was a CLUE. I decided on a more graceful approach to enlarge the bore of a BARREL, mostly at the top.
I produced an exaggerated "reverse taper" in a barrel, in two stages, making it extra-open at the top. Voila! With a classical French MP, I am getting strong and rich tone, and feeling powerful vibration very similar to the Pruefer MP. Intonation is good! I can hardly believe my luck, blessing, or whatever it is. The new barrel bore enriches the sound of a normal clarinet as well, but I'll do some intonation studies before reaching any conclusions.
Comments are most welcome. It's lonely here!
// Windy // Black Hole Clarinets
Imperial Wizard, Cult of the Silver Throat (New Mexico Chapter)
... Only on The Clarinet Pages!