1) Does the physical evidence in the extant mouthpieces from 1800-1850 reflects the change of reed positioning?
There is evidence of a relationship between the change of the reed positioning in the first half of the 19th century and the change in the geometry of the mouthpieces.The main changes that we see in the geometry are the growth of the top of the window, an increase in the window area, and a change in the window shape to a more squared one. These changes happen in different degree in each country: this may reflect the different ways that the process of changing the reed position had in each country. Some of these differences are: the greater changes observed in France, the later appearance of those changes in France, and the lack of clear patterns in the Netherlands.
Because of the specificity of those changes, I argue that the change in the reed positioning and the change in the geometry of the mouthpieces share a causal relation between them, being the change in reed positioning what influenced the change in mouhtpiece design.
2) Does the physical evidence of the mouthpieces reflect national styles in the period 1800-1850?
The mouthpieces showed measurable national differences, like the fact that the window areas in France are bigger than in Germany, and that in England are bigger than in France. The chamber tends to occupy a bigger part of the mouthpiece in England, and the extant mouthpieces from the Netherlands suggest a weak national school of instrument making in this country.
Future studies would do well to continue with this line of work and link these characteristics with the musical national characteristics and composers.
3) How to create a 3D-printed functional historical mouthpiece?
Thanks to the design process, a functional 3D-printed historical clarinet mouthpiece was created, based on a model by Agnès Gueroult.
4) How can 3D printed technology help us better understand historical clarinet mouthpieces?
3D printing proved to be a great means to generate different models slightly different from one another to try how the differences in shape affect the sound. The test confirmed the validity of the theoretical framework of how the mouthpieces work presented in this study.
5) How can this research help historical clarinet players to better choose their historical mouthpieces?
The graphics shown in the chapters where the mouthpieces were analyzed can provide a useful aid to historical clarinet players. They are a tool that can be used to check whether a mouthpiece from a given time and place fit in the norm of their time or, on the contrary, is an exception. Employing some measures, it is possible to check how close a mouthpiece is to a given time and geographical area, and therefore, help us estimate how historically informed are our choices when playing certain repertoire.