Klarinet Archive - Posting 000973.txt from 1999/04

From: Neil Leupold <nleupold@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] Moennig reg. vents and Barrels(INCORRECT)
Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1999 09:05:01 -0400

What's with all the exclamation marks and capital letters?
You sound positively angry. Did somebody say something un-
kind about your mother?

Neil

On Thu, 22 Apr 1999 Sfdr@-----.com wrote:

> In a message dated 4/21/99 5:08:35 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
> kennen.white@-----.edu writes:
>
> << The topic of Moennig register tubes came up last week on this list.
> Moennig apparently made special vents with an hour glass taper, similar
> to his barrels. On page 90 of the current (March 1999) issue of The
> Clarinet, there is an ad for "The Vent", a product sold by Andy
> Crisanti, principal Clarinet in the Fort Worth Symphony. Andy says has
> had a set of Moennig vents that he owns duplicated and is offering them
> for sale at $40 per vent. They are the same for Bb and A clarinet. In
> the ad he states that they "provide for improved throat Bb, long B
> natural, and a more centered and focused sound for A, B and C above the
> staff." Sounds good to me!
>
> >>
> The information regarding Moennig barrels is not correct! The Moennig
> barrel does not have an hour glass bore design but the register tube does.
> The Moennig barrel is made with a three staged reverse cone bore. As Hans
> Moennig's last apprentice, I watched him finish the bore in hundreds of his
> Famous barrels. The technique involved 3 separate reamers. The first step
> was to set the general diameter of the barrel. The second step was to set
> the bottom choke. And the third step was to set the reverse cone. This
> third step was always the most critical as It was based on the players "Set
> up", i.e. mouthpiece, reed and clarinet bore size.
> Mr. Moennig would often say, "The secret to my barrel is not in a
> certain set of dimensions but the barrels proportions in relationship to the
> mouthpiece and upper joint. Unlike commercially produced "Moennig barrels"
> Mr. Moennig bought his barrels unfinished and matched them to the musician's
> individual needs. Although the diameters fluctuated from one style of
> playing to another, The Moennig's barrel taper remained the same and provided
> a consistent result. No one barrel bore profile is going to work on every
> mouthpiece made!
> Whenever a clarinetist would come to the shop to try barrels, The first
> thing that Mr. Moennig would do is analyze the player's "set up." He had the
> blue prints to Ralph McLane's mouthpiece and barrel as it was at McLane's
> request that the Original Moennig Barrel was invented. After measuring the
> players mouthpiece, barrel, and clarinet bore, Mr. Moennig would then do a
> comparative study, based on the McLane standards, to find overall volume
> deviations which might result in pitch and timbre problems. Mr. Moennig
> considered the area from the tip of the mouthpiece to the throat A tone hole
> as an acoustical entity. This area functions as a conduit and its total
> volume will determine the pitch level of the clarinet. The various bore
> perturbations i.e. tapers, cones, chokes flairs,ect., in this area will
> determine if the instrument will play in tune from one register to another.
> An authentic Moennig-made barrel will make the throat tones more focused,
> correct bad 12ths, enhance response, and improve slurs over the break.
> Regarding the Moennig register tubes! Upon Mr. Moennig's death I
> inherited the contents of his repair shop which included reamers,
> instruments, tools, tone hole and bore gauges, undercutting tools, old music
> books, receipt ledgers, ect. But the most important find in his entire
> estate was the detailed blueprints of Buffet R-13 clarinets belonging to
> great players of the twentieth century. The intricate file documented A and
> B flat clarinet measurements for Ralph McLane , Robert McGinness, Harold
> Wright, and Robert Marcellus. Mr. Moennig often referred to these famous
> clarinetist as his personal testers and made sure that every clarinet that he
> sold would meet there criteria for excellence!
> According to Mr. Moennig's records as well as my personal observations,
> the Moennig A and Bb tubes are totally different in design. This difference
> is necessary for acoustical reasons. The A tube should be longer than the Bb
> in order to lower the High A,B,and C. The 12th are too wide on most new
> clarinet such as D-A, E-B and F-C. The Moennig tube will correct this problem
> without destroying the Timbre of the throat Bb. The Moennig tube will also
> eliminate the undertones on pianissimo High A,B, and C. Many repairmen will
> try to remedy this problem by substituting a Bb tube on the A clarinet but it
> just doesn't work very well with most "set ups". The hour glass bore of the
> Moennig tube will keep the upper register notes in tune without jeopardizing
> the response of the middle register or slurs over the break.
> I have a detailed sheet on the Hans Moennig Barrel, Register tubes and
> many other innovations. If anyone is interested in a copy, please feel free
> to contact me.
>
>
> Thank you,
>
> Alvin Swiney
>
> Affordable Music Co.
>
> P.O. Box 4245
>
> Virginia Beach, VA 23454
>
> 757-412-2160, fax 412-2158
>
> E-mail Sfdr@-----.com
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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