Klarinet Archive - Posting 000338.txt from 1996/03

From: niethamer@-----.BITNET
Subj: Re: more C clarinets
Date: Tue, 12 Mar 1996 23:03:41 -0500

On Tue, 12 Mar 1996, Daniel A. Paprocki wrote:

> Dave,
> Not to bring up equipment but what clarinet are you using? Are you
> using your Bb mouthpiece or did you get a copy made and shorten it?
> When I've played C, I've used my Bb mouthpiece. It would usually
> take 10-15 minutes of warming up to get to 440 and then I didn't have room
> for any adjustment if I needed to go higher to match other people. If I
> had my own C or used one often, I'd look into getting a mouthpiece copy
> that would allow some adjustment on the high side.

Dan - I'm not sure if I'm the "Dave" you're asking, but here goes. I have
an ancient Buffet C clarinet which was part of the Dan Leeson "Going Out
Of Business Fire Sale". I've always (read "since September 1995) used my
Bb mpc on this horn, though I've inquired about getting a unique C
clarinet mpc. The mpc in question is a Greg Smith #1 (442 pitch).

Contrary to most people's difficulties, this C clarinet has sharp throat
tones. But for your problem, why not just get a shorter barrel to raise
the pitch of the clarinet to a point where you can deal with it?

I'm going to be looking into a "real" C mpc with the proper bore and
length for the future, but for now my Bb mpc is satisfactory.

David Niethamer