Klarinet Archive - Posting 001141.txt from 1998/07

From: "Edwin V. Lacy" <el2@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] Tape in tone holes
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1998 01:24:37 -0400

On Sat, 25 Jul 1998 reedman@-----.com wrote:

> Wow, it's amazing how misinformation gets passed along. I have seen
> several instruments that were tuned or worked on by Hans Moeening and I
> have never seen an instance where he used tape to tune a tone hole.
> Perhaps someone out there who worked with Hans can back up or deny the
> statement that Hans used tape for tuning. I have seen cases where a bit
> of nail polish was used to fill tone holes.

As many bassoon players relied heavily on the expertise of Hans Moennig, I
posted a question to the doublereed list concerning his use of tape in
tone holes. I had the impression that he used it quite frequently. Here
is an excerpt from a message I received from Norman Herzberg, one of
America's most highly respected bassoonists for many years, and retired
professor of bassoon at the University of Southern California:

"Hans Moennig certainly did use tape in bassoon tone holes. It was from
my experiences with him that I learned about the uses of tape. Until
then I had never thought of it. He used to ream certain holes on the
bassoon. When he enlarged them farther than I wished, we brought them
back with tape. Also, I recall wanting to lower the Bb which he had not
worked on, and we installed tape in the largest of the three holes under
the Bb pad."

Naturally, the fact that he used tape in bassoon tone holes does not
necessarily mean that he also used it in clarinets, but as the acoustical
principles are the same, that would seem to indicate that he at least had
no objection to it.

Ed Lacy
el2@-----.edu

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