Klarinet Archive - Posting 000749.txt from 1999/03

From: Richard Bush <rbushidioglot@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Intonation questions
Date: Fri, 12 Mar 1999 16:13:31 -0500

> > From: Craig D. Butcher <cbutcher@-----.edu>
> > To: klarinet@-----.org
> > Subject: [kl] Intonation questions
> > Date: Wednesday, March 10, 1999 3:45 PM
> >
> > I recently bought a new R-13, replacing a thirty year old student
> > clarinet. The difference is truly amazing, and I am pretty much in tune
> > now, but I noted some odd behavior with both instruments, my ears, and
> > a new Seiko chromatic tuner I bought.
> >
> > I am within a few cents basically up and down with one or two
> > exceptions, which I can attribute to embrochure and so forth, but with
> > the open G and the A (not to mention the Bflat) the tuner shows me as
> > being up to 20 cents high, and yet I mostly hear it as actually flat,
> > especially in comparison with other music, even playing along with the
> > computer.
> >
> > The tuner is OK because it reads test tones I generate using MIDI
> > software etc. exactly where I'd expect them to be.
> >
> > I have heard suggestions that:
> >
> > 1. I am so used to the intonation quirks of the other instrument that I
> > am still trying to compensate for this, or still hearing it, and messing
> > myself up.
> >
> > 2. My ears expect to hear slightly different intervals rather than the
> > "just temperment" intervals the tuner expects (there's a discussion
> > about this in the Clarinet Pages somewhere, I forget exactly where,
> > pretty interesting). Yet the computer agrees with the tuner and I hear
> > that as in tune.
> >
> > 3. Could it be that these notes on the clarinet are generating two or
> > three other fundamentals and/or harmonics which combine to yeild a false
> > "sharp" that the tuner detects but that the ear hears as flat?
> >
> > 4. I have noticed a tendency on my part to think that I sound better
> > sharp than flat; that is, if I am flat, I don't like the sound, but if I
> > am sharp, I seem happier that way. Is this normal or am I perverse?
> >
> > BTW, after using this a while I intend to take it to someone who really
> > knows his stuff and have it gone over, but I'd like to give it a couple
> > of months (warranty, etc in case of cracking or some other matter). I
> > suspect a little regulation could help even though it plays and sounds
> > very nice in general right now.
> >
> > I know mouthpieces and barrels can make a difference. I got a new
> > VanDoren B46 MP after trying a number of various stock MP's and am using
> > the 66 mm barrel that came with the instrument. Again, I am very
> > uniform all the way up and down, except very slightly flat on the low F
> > (about 5 cents). I know also that embrochure and weariness make a
> > difference too, and how hard I am concentrating on tone or on other
> > elements.
> >
> > Any expert opinion or advice would be appreciated!

Dear Craig,

I believe most of this ground has already been covered, but allow me to put my
spin on it all.

I think we would be fairly safe in assuming that your new tuner AND the new
clarinet are quite accurate in their tuning. You didn't mention what your old
student model was. Do you still have it? Have you checked your old clarinet's
tuning against the new tuner? This might shed some light on the issue.

Here are some of the possibilities that I can think of:

1) The old clarinet played the throat tones very flat and you got use to
lipping them up. Now that you have an instrument that is not flat in this
area, you are unconsciously and physically approaching them the same way.

2) You were playing the throat tones just as sharp before on the old clarinet
(because of the way you play the throat tones) but didn't realize it because
you didn't have the tuner then. Now, on the new clarinet your mind still
thinks that they should be in the same place and you are forcing the new
clarinet to play them in the same place.

3) Many players play with too tight of a throat. The throat tones are very
sensative to this and will respond by coming out sharp. Now that you have the
tuner and IF this a player problem and not an instrument problem, work to
modify your playing style, to play much more open and resisting any urge to
tighten the embouchure when playing the throat tones. Who knows, you might
develope a whole new way of approaching the throat tones.

4) You mentioned that you are more comfortable when playing sharp. This is a
problem for those who might play with you. Again, the tuner might help you to
modify your mind's "ears" to think and hear a little lower.

5) Many people confuse timbre with pitch. This is a book in itself and I
don't wish to get into that perceptual problem.

6) You also mentioned that you got a new mouthpiece. Wow, you've taken on yet
another variable. How does the old clarinet play with the new mouthpiece,
compared to the old mouthpiece on the old clarinet ? For that matter, how does
the new clarinet tune with your old mouthpiece.

My feeling is that you have many new things to come to grips with at the same
time. A new tuner that contradicts what your ear or mind tell you, a new
instrument that tunes very differently and a new mouthpiece that also might
tune very differently. I would just give it some time and see if the problem
doesn't slowly resolve itself. Any new instrument will take a good amount of
time to get use to.

Good luck and happy tooting!

>
>

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