Klarinet Archive - Posting 000426.txt from 2000/05

From: Bill Hausmann <bhausman@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] beer, ligatures, and Albert
Date: Sun, 7 May 2000 18:47:37 -0400

At 01:52 PM 5/7/2000 -0700, Bill Edinger wrote:
>1) 10 pints of Guinness?!? Hell, I can't even have a glass of wine with
>dinner anymore and not have it screw up my Thursday night rehearsal.
>That, my H.S. friends, is all part of the Middle Ages (and I don't mean
>Europe prior to 1500).

I don't know. I find, at least when playing big band gigs, one or two
beers is actually GOOD. More than two, however, starts being bad. The
difference between being relaxed and getting sloppy, I guess.

>2) I've tended to discount the effects of things like ligatures as
>making more than marginal, possibly mostly psycho-somatic differences,
>until I got a new Bay ligature (from The Man himself in return for a
>favor) a few weeks ago. I was absolutely startled at the improved tone
>and response that I got on any kind of reed I used. I might even
>actually buy one for my Eb, it was such an improvement. OTOH, I've
>tried Rovners, Luybens, and Bonades, along with an assortment of other
>such no-name devices I've accumulated since the early '60s, and never
>found a whole lot of differences between them. And then I met Charles
>Bay...

I have not tried a Bay, but I know that a Rovner, at least in my
experience, tends to damp the higher partials. Thus it can tame a shrill
mouthpiece to some degree. Aside from that, I have found little
significant difference between ligatures. The $2.50 cheapie sounds
remarkably similar to the Bonade, et al., and I just don't trust Luybens
not to strip out at the screws, although I have never actually seen it happen.

>3) My 1907 Buffet Albert Bb is finally in playing condition, after a
>round trip to Paris Customs (but not the Buffet factory), followed by
>another trip to Toronto, where Steve Fox worked his magic, and some
>final amateurish adjustments by me. Someone recently pointed out the
>uncomfortable nature of playing an Albert, and he was quite right. The
>thumbrest is positioned so low that the thumb lines up with the middle
>RH finger, so that's going to have to be changed. The pads are of
>different sizes than Boehm pads, so I had to trim a few Valentino pads
>to get some that fit. And does anyone have any recommendations for
>loosening the rollers on the roller keys on these things? They seem to
>be seized to the screws that act as axles, and I don't want to break
>anything. Parts for a 1907 Albert are a little tough to find. Finally,
>this thing is HP (High Pitch), so it plays about a half-step sharp. Can
>someone tell me what frequency of "A" a HP instrument is made to?
>
I believe official High Pitch is A@-----. I think my old Carl Fischer
A (Boehm) might also be high pitch, but I found a mouthpiece that plays
very flat on other horns that, with a relatively small barrel adjustment,
brings it into tune, and it still plays well in tune with itself!

Steve Fox did not loosen the rollers? Seems odd. New "axles" can be
hand-made by your local technician fairly easily and cheaply if you can get
them loose in the first place (they buy the rod by the foot and cut it to
length and thread the end - no sweat). Penetrating oil would be my first
suggestion.

Bill Hausmann bhausman@-----.com
451 Old Orchard Drive http://homepages.go.com/~zoot14/zoot14.html
Essexville, MI 48732 ICQ UIN 4862265

If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the band is too loud.

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