Klarinet Archive - Posting 000366.txt from 1994/02

From: Jordan Selburn <jselburn@-----.COM>
Subj: Long B trick
Date: Thu, 24 Feb 1994 16:25:05 -0500

Ron Monson writes:
> Clarion B is no winner on any
>length or flavour of clarinet I have ever played--the entire tube is closed
>and, well you get the idea. Several things have been done to correct this prob
>lem--One that seemed to help a great deal was the design of the bell which
>Mazzeo incorporated into his clarinets.

There's a ClarineTrick(tm) that can really, really open up the sound of the
long B. Strange as it seems, open up the throat A key in addition to the
regular fingering - this does wonders for the sound, with the B sounding
very similar to the C. Combining this with additional fingers down for
resonating the Bb and A yields a very smooth-sounding break, and it
actually can be technically easier going over the break as well. Try it -
it works. Two surgeon general warnings, though:

-Don't forget to close the A key! It will cause highly embarrasing squeaks
on any note other than B (highly, highly embarrasing - trust me on this).

-Don't tune with this fingering. It does raise the pitch slightly and
you'll throw off the rest of your intonation.

Jordan