Klarinet Archive - Posting 001434.txt from 1999/01

From: John Dablin <johnd@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Bore sizes
Date: Fri, 29 Jan 1999 04:02:52 -0500

I'm very grateful to Tony Pay for such a comprehensive reply to my
request for information about the Boosey and Hawkes 1010.
> According to Jon Steward, the bore size of a 1010 clarinet was supposed
> to be .600 inches, which is 15.24mm
Oops! If Tom Ridenour is correct then I don't have much chance at all of
playing in tune. Following suggestions made in response to a previous
post of mine about intonation, I've been testing my B flat instrument
against a tuning meter, and I was surprised at quite how much variation
there was, even on adjacent notes. For example, top line F is good, but
the G a tone above is flat. The throat G sharp, A and B flat measure
flat, but when I'm playing they feel sharp some days, I think it depends
on the weather :-) Similarly I've always found it easy to vary the
pitch in the altissimo register quite a lot, but the flip side is you
need a very good ear to hit the notes in tune first time.

Looking back to the time I bought them, I think we were extremely
parochial those days. I never even considered buying anything else,
after all, Jack Brymer played 1010s, so they *must* be the best. When I
joined the RAF in 1963 I was issued with a plastic B & H 926, and as far
as I know the RAF bought nothing else. I knew about Buffet, but they
were ... well ... French. B & H were solid English stuff, made in
Edgware, after all. Selmer? But they made saxophones. LeBlanc?
Le-who? No Klarinet list in those days, all I knew was learnt from
teachers or colleagues, who probably didn't know much more than me.

> But the instrument was aimed avowedly
> at a particular quality of sound and response rather than at 'perfect
> intonation as a given'.
And it's a sound I like, and can occasionally get on a good day with the
right reed. But it's a soloists sound, I think, probably better for
that or for an orchestra than for blending into the clarinet section of
a band.

One day I might feel rich enough to look for some new instruments, in
the meantime it helps a lot to understand the good and bad points of my
current clarinets. Thanks very much.
--
John Dablin
Aylesbury UK

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