mouthpiece position

[kymarto]

If you have to pull your mpc out to get in tune, this might interest you:

I have to pull my new Stowasser mpcs out about 2.5 mm to tune A=440. That leaves a gap inside. In order to test the effect of that gap, I built a spacer to eliminate it.

What I found was that the top of the second octave, starting around A, is flattened considerably--about 15 cents or so--making it easier to play the upper notes in tune without a lot of embouchure adjustment.

If you are pulling your mpc out and your upper register tends to be sharp, it is quite easy to make a temporary spacer out of a section of wine cork cut to the right thickness. A round file or drill or whatever will make a nice clean hole in the center, and you can sand the edges a bit so that it fits into place in the tenon receiver of the mpc.

Added note: hmmm....after more experimentation and checking on my tuner, I may have been fooling myself. Adding a spacer also means having to pull the mpc farther off the cork because the mpc volume is decreased. It is not so clear-cut. If I get anything that feels definitive, I will post again...

Further: adding the insert raises pitch ~20 cents. Now pulling out again to bring the pitch down does lower the top end of the 2nd octave about 15-20 cents, but by then the mpc is almost 6 mm off the cork.

[MrDibbs]

Interesting. The top of the second octave is sharp for me too but I don't have to pull out to get 440. Maybe there is a gap though. I'll check it out later.

[kymarto]

On conical woodwinds there is a complex relationship between mpc volume, mpc resonance frequency, pitch and intonation. You could probably bring the upper octave down by reducing the mpc volume, which would force you to pull the mpc out to tune 440, and that should bring the upper notes down some. You can actually experiment with chewing gum--add some chewed gum near the bottom of the mpc chamber and see what happens. Nearer the tip will make the sound thinner and brighter without changing intonation as much.