Klarinet Archive - Posting 000120.txt from 1996/10

From: "Michael D. Moors" <mdmoors@-----.US>
Subj: Re: Barrel designs
Date: Sun, 6 Oct 1996 01:22:31 -0400

Hi all,

Dick Walters raises an important question and James Pyne certainly is an
expert on acoustics. My observations are based on how they improved
intonation and tone in mostly student model clarinets. I think that the
Click barrel is a fine product. Buffet, Artley and Armstrong are offering
it as an option on the student model instruments. According to the
marketing director of Click it is also crossing the line into professional
model instruments. I believe the barrel totally eliminates the need for
tuning rings because the barrel stays flush against the upper joint.

It is a product that should be tried objectively by the private teacher in
the studio. I also think it is good to have more that one barrel to compare
consistency of intonation.

For questions about design I have included the phone number, e-mail address
and web site URL. I would be interested in hearing more about what teachers
think about them.

toll free:888-CLICKED (254-2533)
click@-----.com
www.clickbarrel.com

Mike Moors

>Dick Walters raises an important point. The taper (usually reverse) of the
>barrel is essential in tuning the difficult "spread" or too-wide 12ths
>between registers of the clarinet. Additionally the barrel bore dimensions
>are very sensitive. Differences of as little as .001-.002 in bore taper or
>overall diameter of bore can be felt by the performer and heard, both in
>timbre and in the focus of pitch relationships.
>
>The current Moennig bore taper is one of the better solutions for many
>fairly recent mouthpiece/clarinet combinations. A problem, especially with
>current wooden barrels, can be warpage that distorts the very sensitive
>bore dimensions. This is caused by the utilization of unstable wood.
>Properly prepared, high quality Blackwood is less available than in the
>past. The older Moennig barrels, such as those provided with my original
>set of Buffets (=40 yrs old) were quite stable and somewhat different in
>taper from the newer "Moennig", but excellent none the less, when combined
>with certain mouthpiece internal taper designs.
>
>I have done a great deal of research, including blind listening tests by
>professional performers, on barrels produced by myself from a variety of
>synthetic materials. This testing included plastic and metal materials that
>colored the sound in ways that were perceived to be unmusical. The process
>however has yielded a material that is very stable and that mimics the tone
>quality of fine Blackwood with great success. Barrels of this material,
>carefully bored, perform uniformly through weather and seasonal changes.
>
>Finally the barrel must serve as a proper interface between the out-taper
>of the mouthpiece and the in-taper of the top joint of the clarinet proper.
>The design of the generative system down to about the position of the
>register vent hole is the most critical area of the clarinet bore for both
>tone quality and intonation. Great care must be given to the particular
>barrel and mouthpiece combined with any given instrument design. In this
>sense it is impossible to provide one barrel that is best for all
>instrument designs and all mouthpiece/clarinet combinations.
>
>James Pyne
>Pyne/Clarion, Inc.
>1-800-JPYNE-440
>
>

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/ O | mdmoors@-----.us
http://edcen.ehhs.cmich.edu/~mmoors/