So I have a general question, but some intro is needed:
After John mentioned that he noticed a gap between 2 joints, I took some measurements as well and found a 4-5mm gap between the bottom of my MPC mortise and the top of the upper joint MPC tenon. I addressed the situation last night, as I mentioned before. Now that tenon bottoms out in the MPC like I want it to. But looking at how the cork is set up, it's really just a 7mm or so of cork width on that tenon that is achieving the seal. Considering that the tenon is about 18mm long, and that the tenon itself is much thinner than the mouthpiece opening, I figured there is about 1mm of air space all around the upper part of the tenon once in the MPC (in addition to the original gap due to the previously too short a tenon). I thought this could not be a good thing acoustically. So after I finished shaping the newly extended tenon. I sanded down the existing strip of cork so that it's flush with the rest of the tenon, and then glued a new strip of cork, about 14mm wide, around the tenon, reaching nearly to the very top. I sanded that down to fit the MPC, applied some cork grease, and now I seem to have a perfect snug fit.
My question is: why would I not want to do this? Is there any reason why the original cork channel in the tenon is only about 7mm wide? Both of my tarogatok are like that. My common sense is that you want to eliminate or minimize any air gaps, and have a direct, sealed connection from the MPC to the instrument.
I played the taragot after my mods, and I immediately found it more efficient - and it seemed like the high notes came out much easier. But that could be just a placebo effect, plus it was late at night and I couldn't really play as loud as I wanted to.
George
After John mentioned that he noticed a gap between 2 joints, I took some measurements as well and found a 4-5mm gap between the bottom of my MPC mortise and the top of the upper joint MPC tenon. I addressed the situation last night, as I mentioned before. Now that tenon bottoms out in the MPC like I want it to. But looking at how the cork is set up, it's really just a 7mm or so of cork width on that tenon that is achieving the seal. Considering that the tenon is about 18mm long, and that the tenon itself is much thinner than the mouthpiece opening, I figured there is about 1mm of air space all around the upper part of the tenon once in the MPC (in addition to the original gap due to the previously too short a tenon). I thought this could not be a good thing acoustically. So after I finished shaping the newly extended tenon. I sanded down the existing strip of cork so that it's flush with the rest of the tenon, and then glued a new strip of cork, about 14mm wide, around the tenon, reaching nearly to the very top. I sanded that down to fit the MPC, applied some cork grease, and now I seem to have a perfect snug fit.
My question is: why would I not want to do this? Is there any reason why the original cork channel in the tenon is only about 7mm wide? Both of my tarogatok are like that. My common sense is that you want to eliminate or minimize any air gaps, and have a direct, sealed connection from the MPC to the instrument.
I played the taragot after my mods, and I immediately found it more efficient - and it seemed like the high notes came out much easier. But that could be just a placebo effect, plus it was late at night and I couldn't really play as loud as I wanted to.
George
