Klarinet Archive - Posting 001137.txt from 1998/01

From: Ken Bryson <kbryson@-----.com>
Subj: Re: Another question...barrels
Date: Tue, 27 Jan 1998 00:56:35 -0500

I was having trouble with the throat tones on my A clarinet being flat,
and my teacher recommended I pay a visit to a local woodwind repair
specialist. He listened to me play and then handed me a barrel and said
"try this". I put it on the instrument, checked the intonation against
a strobe tuner, and presto! much improved intonation in the throat tones
and actually throughout the range. It turned out that this was a barrel
he had made, and he has now made me one for my A clarinet and one for my
B flat. I never understood before that how much a difference a barrel
could make. I thought the length of the barrel was the only important
variable, but now I know the internal dimensions and contour also play a
big part. I play Buffet R-13s with a Gennusa mouthpiece, BG
Revelation ligature, Grand Concert Thick Blank reeds. I can't address
your questions about specific barrels, but I think it would probably be
well worth your while to try several and select the one that makes the
biggest (positive) difference.

Nancy

Composer16 wrote:
>
> How many people still have the barrels that came with their clarinets? If you
> changed barrels, why?
> I was wondering if I should try a new barrel. I was looking at auditioning:
> DEG C Series
> DEG D Series
> Can anyone give me any comments on them? What about the DEG Eddie Daniels
> one? Basically, I'm looking to see if there is a better barrel that will work
> with my Leblanc Concerto, Ignatius N. Gennusa mouthpiece, BG Revelation
> Ligature, and Grand Concert Select thick reeds. If you couldn't already
> guess, I'm looking for a dark, clear, sound, that is flexible. I would like
> to see if this will make my throat tones better sounding (in other words, the
> less fingers I have to put down for a good sound in the throat tones the
> better, beause then they won't be as flat). Would a different barrel do that?
> Thanks for all your help.
> Chris Hoffman