Klarinet Archive - Posting 000287.txt from 1996/08

From: Fred Jacobowitz <fredj@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: A Clarinet
Date: Fri, 9 Aug 1996 21:32:39 -0400

Mary,
It is only a stupid question for a professional or very
experienced clarinetist to ask. Since you profess to be neither, it's a
fair question. No, it wouldn't work. You see, the distance between the
holes and the mouthpiece is crucial. The set of ratios is different for
different length clarinets. Also, an A clarinet has a slightly larger
bore than a B-flat. If it didn't, it would not play very well. So you
can't just lengthen the distance between the first few holes and the
mouthpiece because the others farther away from the mouthpiece wouldn't be
as radically affected by the change of barrel length and would not tune
with the closer ones.

Fred Jacobowitz
Clarinet/Sax Instructor, Peabody Preparatory

On Fri, 9 Aug 1996, Mary White wrote:

> Hello. Not only am I new to the list, but I am an amateur clarinetist
> with a stupid question: wouldn't a really long barrel turn a Bb clarinet
> into an A clarinet? (This occurred to me in a blinding flash after an
> instrument store quoted me $2500+ for an A clarinet.)
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Mary White
> Harbour Publishing
> Madeira Park, BC Canada
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>