Klarinet Archive - Posting 000021.txt from 1994/01

From: Jordan Selburn <jselburn@-----.COM>
Subj: Pitch vs. Barrel Length
Date: Tue, 11 Jan 1994 12:04:43 -0500

Dan Leeson writes:
>Ron says that instruments bought for the European marketplace will have
>a higher pitch than that which we are used to here in the U.S. He is
>correct, of course, but I have a brief story to tell to that effect.
<part of story deleted>
>So he excused himself and came out with the "American barrel" which is
>shorter than the European barrel. I asked him if that was the only
>difference between the American and European models and he said yes. I
>don't know how accurate he was being with me, but that is what he said.
<more deletions>
>Bottom line is that when one buys a French soprano clarinet in France,
>the sharpness of the pitch can be accomodated by the simple expedient
>of a shorter barrel.
>

In general, wouldn't a shorter barrel raise the pitch even more? I know
that there are
other factors involved (such as the diameter and shape of the bore), but it
seems at first that you would need a longer barrel rather than shorter.

This brings up another question (which may in fact completely invalidate
the above comment): why do A clarinets tend to have shorter barrels than
Bb? Looking in various mail-order catalogs, I recall Buffet selling
barrels from 63-66 mm for the A and 64-67 mm for the Bb (these numbers may
be off - I don't have the catalog here). Also, are there any other
differences between an A and Bb barrel? My local repair-guru takes Buffet
A barrels, re-bores them and sells them for Bb and they work great.

Jordan
Disclaimer: I am not responsible for the above comments as I haven't had
any coffee yet.