Klarinet Archive - Posting 000347.txt from 2000/08

From: Bilwright@-----.net (William Wright)
Subj: [kl] Opposite register vent
Date: Mon, 14 Aug 2000 19:30:38 -0400

Today a clarinetist/technician showed me his collection of vintage
instruments, some of them going back to the mid-1800's. One of them (I
don't remember the date) was mostly Boehm, but it had the register vent
on top of the joint instead of below, and then a key twisted around to
the bottom of the joint, near to the thumb hole.
My friend told me that this makes more sense because water doesn't
accumulate in the register vent if it's on top. When the vent is on the
bottom, then you need to add a tube inside the joint in order to divert
water, and this tube contributes to the alto and altissimo intonation
and tone color probelms.
I asked him why clarinet manufacturers abandoned this, and he said
that he didn't know the reason, except perhaps that the keywork was too
complicated. But it looked fairly simple to me. It's just that the
pivot rod for the key was 90 degrees to the normal position.

So I'm curious: Is there more to the story than what I've
recounted?

Thanks,
Bill

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