Klarinet Archive - Posting 000948.txt from 1998/10

From: Spiegelthal.Dave@-----.COM
Subj: Re: [kl] Ggod and average BffetR13's
Date: Wed, 21 Oct 1998 18:45:08 -0400

Dee Hays speculated about why clarinets of the same brand and model might
play (or be perceived to play) differently from each other. She listed
some possibilities:
"1. Wide manufacturing tolerances on dimensions. My opinion is that this
is unlikely.
2. Poor quality control. Again I view this as unlikely.
3. Instruments get out of adjusment in shipping and are not properly
readjusted before the potential buyer tries them. This could be very
possible depending on the seller.
4. The purchaser is seeking a characteristic that is not an inherent
characteristic of that brand and model......"

I would maintain that #1 should not necessarily be ruled out. Although I
agree that WIDE manufacturing tolerance differences are unlikely in a
high-quality clarinet line, I believe that even very SMALL dimensional
differences in any portion of the clarinet bore might make significant
differences in playing characteristics. Certainly I have found, in my
years of experimenting with refacing clarinet and sax mouthpieces, that
almost unmeasurable (and sometimes truly unmeasurable) differences in
certain mouthpiece facing dimensions make RADICAL differences in the
response of the mouthpiece. Perhaps the same is true of clarinet bore
dimensions, although probably to a lesser degree.
Dave Spiegelthal (lifelong student of the bass clarinet, with a minor
in B-flat clarinet)

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