Klarinet Archive - Posting 000371.txt from 1995/08

From: CLARK FOBES <reedman@-----.COM>
Subj: Intonation
Date: Mon, 28 Aug 1995 16:58:05 -0400

The following comments are presented as thoughts I have regarding
intonation and performance that have developed over 20 years of
performing and working on the acoustical problems of the clarinet. As
with all aspects in learning, some of my ideas have changed over the
years and may continue to change. Intonation is an area that requires a
good musician to keep his mind and ears open.

TUNING: or Not-so-perfect pitch

The subject of intonation is always an interesting one. Although we
attempt to test ourselves against a rather arbitrary standard (A=440 in
tempered scale) we realistically perform by a method that consists of
some tempered tuning and some "just" intonation. "Just" intonation is
the development of the scale based on the organic generation of tones
as they occur in the natural harmonic series.

A good example of the problems associated with playing "by ear" or
using "just" intonation is the interval of the major third. In the
overtones series the major third is the the fifth partial and to sound
"consonant" or without beats it must deviate 16 cents flat from the
evenly tempered scale. Now, remember your first year harmony. In the
key of C major, for example, B natural is the leading tone and
melodically wants to be heard "sharp". But when we play the dominant
chord in C major (G-B-D), B natural wants to be heard as the major
third and to be consonant must be played 16 cents flat. This
contradiction in where to place the B is part of the instability of the
dominant chord that makes us want to resolve it to tonic.

Another short example of how we perceive pitch can be demostrated by
playing octaves. Because octaves are an easily heard ratio of 1:2 the
sound of perfect octaves between two players is not as subjective as
that of the major third or minor third. However, play or sing an
ascending octave without looking at your tuner. Play it several times
so that you get the sound well in your ear. Now play it the same way
and look at your tuning device. Invariably the rising octave will be
sharp!The short lesson is that sometimes we must listen vertically
(harmonically) and other times we listen or play horizontally
(melodically).

I consider the use of just intonation in the ensemble to be absolutely
paramount to tempered tuning, but the extent to which one alters pitch
can be an issue of taste.

This is a very simplistic overview to a very complicated issue. When we
throw in the inherent acoustical problems generated by our instuments
we can begin to see that intonation in ensemble is a very difficult and
often subjective area.

THE INSTRUMENT

The clarinet inherently has an aberrant scale and choices are made by
manufacturers in how to deal with these idiosyncracies and preserve a
good sound. Adam Pease brought up some very pertinent points about the
tuning of his Selmer series 9 clarinet. The problems he expressed are
exactly those that Selmer chose in the design of the Selmer 9. The
Selmer philosophy up to that point was to use a large diameter tone
hole with no undercutting.(And, I believe, an almost purely cylindrical
bore). The 9* was a move toward reducing tone hole diameters in some
areas and introducing undercutting. The Selmer series 10 was a radical
move toward a polycylindrical design. The 10G was the result of work
with Anthony Gigliotti and a move even closer to the Buffet design.

The larger tone holes do produce a more robust tone, but the twelfths
are "short" and tend to be very sharp in the fundamental when playing
pianissimo. Adding keys to bring down pitch in the chalumeau is a good
solution and one that I use some times when playing my Selmer bass
clarinet. Another option is to pull the center tenon about .5mm.

The great innovation by Robert Carre (Buffet) in the 1950's was the use
of a polycylindrical bore design and smaller, but undercut tone holes.
The reduction of the bore size in the lower 2/3 of the upper joint
greatly improves the twelfths in that area.

The recent push by Leblanc to compete with Buffet as a major force in
the clarinet market has produced some very fine results, and as I have
stated before, I think that competion in the market place is very
healthy. We the consumers will only gain.

Another innovation for clarinetists, attributed to Hans Moennig, was
the introduction of the reverse cone taper in the barrel joint. My
experimenting in this area and the subsequent use of a reverse cone in
my barrels is that not only is the intonation positively enhanced, but
there is an increase in tonal center. It also interesting how varying
the taper slightly can create fairly significant changes in the
resonance of the "bell" and "throat" tones in particular.

The next step in acoustical adjustment that has been almost ignored by
player/makers is the bell. I am working on a new design for bells right
now that has some very interesting qualities. Most of us are used to
exploring barrels for a better sound, but the availability of a variety
of bells to try is usually non existent. Try just switching bells with
friends and you may be amazed at the differences from bell to bell.

QUALITY OF SOUND

I was very grateful to read David Bourque's comment that tone is
inextricably tied to intonation. As a maker of mouthpieces I am very
sensitive to the issue of tone and intonation. Players come to me with
a wide variety of needs, but paramount is the desire to play in tune.
If a mouthpiece has a beautiful sound, but one has to do any
manipulation (embipulation? oralipulation?) of the embouchure for
reasons of intonation the sound is compromised.

Let's disregard any talk about dark, light, bright or puce sounds
and concentrate on the concept of projection. I have always insisted
that projection of sound is a function of QUALITY not QUANTITY. Have
you ever noticed that when your ear hears what you may qualify as a
beautiful tone rising above the ensemble you have the sensation that it
is "riding" on top of the ensemble? I believe this has everything to do
with how the presence of overtones in that given sound are consonant
with the prevailing harmonic context. This is very dramatically
demonstrated by good vocalists, particularly operatic singers. I just
performed a concert with some very fine young singers in the San
Francisco Opera's Merola program. During reheasal I was sitting in
front of a baritone whose sound was so filled with overtones that I had
to cover my ears. Later, in Davies Hall, he was in front of the
orchestra singing towards us and I heard only a beautifully homogenous
and rich sound that carried to the rafters!

This theory of resonance and quality of sound was discussed by Jim Pyne
at the clarinet conference this summer. Very simply he states that
resonance is reliant upon the abundant presence of overtones in the
area of the series that roughly describe a dominant 7th chord.

A well centered sound has a balance of all partials (including the
fundamental) and enough presence of overtones that not only projects,
but allows a sensitive ear to hear the harmonics lining up in the
ensemble. Have you ever played a mouthpiece that just did not seem to
play anything in tune? A mouthpiece like this may acoustically be well
within parameters on your tuner, but playing in ensemble is a
nightmare. Usually the problem is that the mouthpiece is not
"centering", that is, there are insufficient overtones to allow the ear
to discern pitch in the ensemble.I have also found the reverse to be
true. Occasionally a mouthpiece is all "surface" (too many overtones).
I have had players describe this is not being able to get "into" the
sound.

The problem in achieving a balanced clarinet tone for a mouthpiece
maker is that acoustically the clarinet is a closed pipe system and
tends to sound "hollow". This is due to two factors. One is that in the
regime of oscillation of a closed pipe system the fundamental is the
most present.( This is why we can out do any woodwind in a test of
"pianissimo" playing. As energy is removed from the system only the
most prominent partial remains. Conical bore instruments like the
saxophone and oboe have their 2nd partial or octave as their most
present partial and want to jump to the octave when playing pianissimao
in their fundamental register). The second reason that closed pipe
instruments sound hollow is the relative lack of even harmonics in the
sound. (They do exist, but very weakly)

The conundrum, then, in clarinet mouthpiece design is to retain
sufficient fundamental (core) in the sound while bringing out a well
balanced set of overtones.(And to make it play in tune, take a wide
variety of reeds, reduce pratice time, increase your life expectancy,
and make you the most popular person on your block). But, that's my
problem and the work continues.

Clark W Fobes