Klarinet Archive - Posting 000730.txt from 1998/10

From: Shouryu Nohe <jnohe@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] bass clarinet info wanted
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1998 22:19:10 -0400

On Thu, 15 Oct 1998, Henk Raven wrote:

> 3) The B on middle line of stave is to high.

(quick note - this is actually pretty common on any sort of clarinet, Eb
to Contrabass. ^_^ )

I don't have any solutions at the moment, but possible remedies that might
make the horn play more acceptable. Mainly, conerning the mouthpiece -
thry the horn with different mouthpieces other than the Selmers. Granted,
Selmer mpcs are made to work with Selmer horns, but if you're switching
from another brand of bass, you may find that a different mouthpiece makes
a world of difference. For example - the LeBlanc bass I used last year
sounds the same whether I use a Hite or Morgan mpc. On the Buffet,
however, the Morgan is a dramatic improvement over the Hite. I have no
clue how it would respond to a Selmer, as we don't have one here.

Reed strength is another thing - if the reed is soft, it would accout for
the overall flatness and the stuffy notes (although a hard reed is often
the culprit is stuffiness, soft ones can also cause similar problems in
selective registers).

If the bore is different from what you're used to playing on, then
switching out mouthpiece reed combinations is definitely something you
should try.

As for the specific notes which are way out of tune...
If they are flat, check to see if the key is opening sufficiently, or to
see if something is on the pad or the tone hole. This could also be a
cause of particular note stuffiness as well.

If they are sharp, see if the holes are opening too much.

There may be larger forces at work, but these are at least some little
things you can check and hopefully rectify (some just belong in the hands
of the repairman ^_^ ) on your own.

J. Shouryu Nohe
http://web.nmsu.edu/~jnohe
Professor of SCSM102, New Mexico State Univ.
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