Klarinet Archive - Posting 000175.txt from 1998/09

From: "F. Sheim" <fsheim@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Short barrels
Date: Sat, 5 Sep 1998 23:06:11 -0400

I got that book with my R-13 in December of 1963. I never even noticed the
A=443 issue, but have frequently had piano players say I play sharp (when
the barrel is not pulled out at all.) My TUNER says I'm right on A=440
though, so I can't figure it out. Also included with that clarinet was a
cardboard template that you were supposed to insert into your mouthpiece to
make certain the bore of the MOUTHPIECE was the right length. And finally,
why does EVERYBODY spell my last name with an extra 'c'? :D

Fred (fsheim@-----.com)

At 07:22 PM 9/5/98 -0500, you wrote:
>Mark Bradley wrote:
>
>> Yes the 65mm barrel on my E-11 really was a problem for me before I got
>> a new barrel. (BTW, I use a Vandoren M13 mouthpiece) Every time I put
>> the instrument together I had to pull the barrel out automatically since
>> it would *always* be sharp, 100% of the time. I use a 66mm (or 67 I
>> can't remember) barrel now that is from an R13 and I am more in tune.
>> Even the conductor at music camp noticed the tuning improvement. I do
>> wish that the standard E-11 barrel was a little bit longer since that
>> would have saved me a few bucks. I think that the barrel on my old
>> resonite Signet is even longer. I wonder why they use the short barrels
>> but maybe it is not a problem for most of the players that use an E-11.
>>
>
>FWIW, the other day as I was going through some old messages, I found one
>with an address for Fred Scheim's web page. There, (in addition to a nice
>picture of Fred ;^) ), I found an old brochure on clarinet care published in
>the 50's by Carl Fischer. The brochure focuses on Buffet clarinets that
>Fischer carried at the time. It states that the standard barrel for the R13
>at that time was 65mm and that, with that barrel, the instrument was tuned to
>A = 443! The brochure went on to recommend that, if anyone needed to tune to
>A @-----. My 1963 Buffet came with a 65mm
>barrel and is still sharp compared to a tuner set for A = 440 even when I use
>a 67mm barrel. I believe that Buffet, perhaps in the 70's (?), changed to a
>66mm barrel as standard. For some reason that may not have filtered down to
>the Evettes. If anything, however, I believe Buffet has LOWERED the pitch at
>least of its R13s since the 1950's.
>
>Something to think about.
>
>Best regards,
>Jack Kissinger
>St. Louis
>
>
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