Klarinet Archive - Posting 000140.txt from 1995/03

From: Fred Jacobowitz <fredj@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: eb sop. clar.
Date: Sat, 4 Mar 1995 23:43:33 -0500

To one and all,
It has been my experience (I feel I have a special affinity/talent
for e-flat) that Selmer and Leblanc are constitutionally incapable of
making an eefer which is in tune. I own a Buffet RC which is remarkably
in tune and I can safely tell piccolo's that they are out. I have also
found that most e-flat mouthpieces do not tune well. I refaced the
stock buffet mouthpiece which came with the clarinet. It works better
than either my 2RV or my B-44. For what this is worth, it seems that the
only way to be consistently in tune on an eefer is to get a superb
instrument. You really get no weeway like you do with b-flat clarinets.
However, there IS something you can do -- you can put all tape in the
holes and raise/lower keys and it wil help enormously. Good luck.

On Wed, 1 Mar 1995, Jeff Bowles wrote:

> ``if you play this *&%^% instrument, please list specs, likes, dislikes
> adventures...''
>
> I have an old Selmer E-flat soprano, and the highest
> register (altissimo?) is about a half-step flat. It's
> positively maddening, because that's where the "money
> notes" are.
>
> It's interesting to look at the way the parts are arranged
> for concert band.
> 1. Sometimes the combination of piccolo, oboe, and E-flat
> clarinet are used for chords, to reinforce one another,
> etc. (That's neat.)
> 2. Sometimes, the E-flat just doubles the 1st clarinet,
> which is utterly uninteresting. (It's like when the
> alto clarinet lines double the 3rd clarinet or the bass
> clarinet. Big yawn.)
> 3. Sometimes, it doubles the flute parts. This is more interesting,
> because it adds a cutting edge that the flutes just can't give
> you.
> 4. Sometimes, it's an altogether different part, such as in
> the Hindemith Symphony in B-flat. In this, the first clarinet
> and E-flat clarinet toss ornamentation back and forth, and no
> other instruments get involved. It's pretty fun. Moreover,
> there's a strange rhythmic thingie at the end in which the
> E-flat has triples against duples everywhere else in the band.
> Sometimes, arrangers/composers actually write for the brightness
> and color of the E-flat clarinet. When they do, it's a lot of fun.
>
> But the intonation of that instrument is maddening. Completely.
>
> Jeff Bowles
>