Klarinet Archive - Posting 000072.txt from 1997/03

From: Nathaniel F Johnson <clarinat@-----.com>
Subj: Re: barrels
Date: Mon, 3 Mar 1997 01:56:02 -0500

This is correct. Have you ever noticed that your A clarinet is more
resistant than your Bb? This is, no doubt, a result of the smaller bore.
The changes to reeds and embouchure that you mentioned do not really
increase the bore size; rather they relax the tension in the reed. This
is similar to bringing your hands closer together when stretching a
rubber band. The rubber band is looser, so it sounds a lower note when
plucked. Likewise, when you loosen the reed (or the embouchure pressure
on the reed) the pitch goes down.

Incidentally, I've read other posts on this topic discussing putting
things into the bell to change the pitch. There is a clarinet stand
availble that is designed to fold up and fit into your bell for ease of
transportation. It's called Pack-A-Stand. If you leave the stand in the
bell, you can get a great low Eb. I am planning to use it to get the low
Eb
on the last page of the Busoni Concertino.

Nathaniel Johnson
Conductor / Clarinettist
All-Around Good Guy
University of Northern Colorado

On Sun, 2 Mar 1997 17:06:23 -0600 "Edwin V. Lacy" <el2@-----.EDU>
writes:
>On Sun, 2 Mar 1997, James Pyne wrote:
>
>> increasing the bore size raises the pitch while decreasing the bore
>> size lowers the pitch.
>
>Is it possible that this is a typo, or that the two items were
>unintentionally transposed?
>
>If not, and if the above is true, it certainly is a revolutionary
>musical
>phenomenon. In every other case I know of, increasing the bore size
>_lowers_ the pitch, and vice-versa. For example, opening a bassoon or
>oboe reed increases the bore size and lowers the pitch. Loosening the
>embouchure on saxophone or clarinet allows the reed to open more,
>thereby
>creating a larger interior volume (among other effects) and lowers the
>pitch.
>
>Ed Lacy
>el2@-----.edu
>