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Doublereed Archive - Posting 000071.txt from 2003/05
From: "Lacy, Edwin" <el2@-----.edu>
Subj: RE: [DR-L] Bassoon Tuning
Date: Tue, 6 May 2003 18:08:56 -0400
<<<As to everybody else, tuning screws are the screws you adjust to
control the openings of the holes (like if the mechanism isn't making
the pad touch the hole all the way). That's what tuning screws are.
They're just about everywhere on all woodwinds.>>>
Well, I've been playing all the woodwind instruments, and repairing them
in my own somewhat untutored way, for over 50 years, and I've never
heard them called "tuning screws." I would refer to them as "adjusting
screws." I'm very familiar with the use of adjusting screws on the
oboe, flute and saxophone, but my Fox 601 doesn't have any adjusting
screws, and I don't ever recall seeing an adjusting screw on a Fox
bassoon. Pad heights are usually controlled through the use of corks or
felts of varying thicknesses. In any event, it would be a very touchy
and dangerous thing to try to adjust major problems with intonation on
an instrument (such as in the case of a bassoon that seems consistently
to be 40 cents sharp) by means of adjusting the pad opening heights. In
the case of certain notes on the bassoon, this has to be checked, and
the pad height has to be correct in order to have a reasonably good
pitch center. For example, on the traditionally sharp G2 on the
bassoon, sometimes this problem is exacerbated due to the pad over the G
hole (the one operated by the F key) opening too far. The degree of
opening is usually controlled by a small piece of cork, which can
compress over time. If the pad is opening to the proper height, then
you have a better chance of being able to make the note play in tune by
adjusting the reed, embouchure and breath.
Even in cases where it is theoretically possible to lower the pitch of a
note by lowering the pad, this would be likely to have a rather severe
deleterious effect on the tone quality of the instrument. I again am
led to speculate that the problem with a Fox bassoon that seems to be 40
cents sharp lies in the degree of hardness of the reed, the amount of
embouchure pressure, the amount of lip surface that is in contact with
the surface of the blades of the reed, and the wind supply.
Dr. Edwin Lacy
Professor of Bassoon and Saxophone
University of Evansville
