Re: [Harp-L] Small mp leak

[Music Cal <macaroni9999@xxxxxxxxx>]

A little follow up on my question about air leaks between the mouthpiece
and slider apparatus.

Last night I took a small strip of binder paper and slipped it (with
some effort) the undesirable gap between mouthpiece and slider apparatus.
I then trimmed off the excess with a razor blade and tamped it into
the groove with the razor blade. In this manner I managed to plug up
a significant part of the leak - maybe about half the total leak surface
area (perpendicular to air flow).

Wow! What a difference this makes in an already nice instrument. The
difference is as one might expect: The reeds respond better and a fixed
volume can be obtained with less effort.

This is only a temporary fix. I am really motivated to find a long
lasting fix and a fix that will eliminate the leaks on all four sides
of the rectangular mouthpiece hole (presently I am only blocking two
sides - top and bottom). A gasket seems to be a good idea. Surely
somebody has tried something like a gasket between mouthpiece and
slider apparatus. I would really like to hear from you if you have.

Music Cal




>Hello
>
>Recently, while cleaning my chromatic harmonic, I noticed a small gap
>between the mouthpiece and the slider apparatus. I think the gap may be
>responsible for the decreased reed response of some of the reeds of the
>lower reedplate. The gap is bigger on the underside of the harp relative to
>the top side.>
>
>Does anybody know of a good way to fix this? The mouthpiece doesn't have
>much a bow in it (as mentioned in Douglas Tate's books) but I don't want to
>try bowing it. Has anybody had any success with some sort of gasket?