Mouthpiece Force Sensor
-
Mark
Mouthpiece Force Sensor
I know the technology is out there. Has anyone made a mouthpiece that can measure the force a player is exerting on the mouthpiece rim? I would think this would be a huge hit at clinics, etc.
-
Chuck(G)
- 6 valves
- Posts: 5679
- Joined: Fri Mar 19, 2004 12:48 am
- Location: Not out of the woods yet.
- Contact:
I don't know if absolute force is the indicator of anything special; my feeling is that you may be trying to measure the wrong thing.
For example, consider a trombone player who plays on a stock Bach 1G mouthpiece with a thin-as-a-razor rim. Then consider the same player playing on one of those Rudy Muck cushion rim mouthpieces.
Given the same amount of force exerted by the face, the guy with the Rudy Muck's clearly in better shape as the force per unit area of mouthpiece rim is going to be much lower.
I think another factor is one's dental configuration. If one has a tooth that exerts a concentrated force on one area of the face in response to a mouthpiece, one is going to be much worse off with a given mouthpiece pressure than another who doesn't have the same dental feature.
What you'd really like to measure is blood circulation through the embouchure, no?
For example, consider a trombone player who plays on a stock Bach 1G mouthpiece with a thin-as-a-razor rim. Then consider the same player playing on one of those Rudy Muck cushion rim mouthpieces.
Given the same amount of force exerted by the face, the guy with the Rudy Muck's clearly in better shape as the force per unit area of mouthpiece rim is going to be much lower.
I think another factor is one's dental configuration. If one has a tooth that exerts a concentrated force on one area of the face in response to a mouthpiece, one is going to be much worse off with a given mouthpiece pressure than another who doesn't have the same dental feature.
What you'd really like to measure is blood circulation through the embouchure, no?
Last edited by Chuck(G) on Wed Dec 07, 2005 4:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.
-
Mark
Well, if you built the sensor into a specific mouthpiece, you could calculate the surface area of the rim and...
Blood flow to the embrochure is one issue with mouthpiece pressure, but so is flexibility. If the only concern was the restriction of blood flow, everyone would be using mouthpieces with very, very wide rims.
Blood flow to the embrochure is one issue with mouthpiece pressure, but so is flexibility. If the only concern was the restriction of blood flow, everyone would be using mouthpieces with very, very wide rims.