Klarinet Archive - Posting 000350.txt from 2000/08

From: "Dee D. Hays" <deehays@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Opposite register vent
Date: Mon, 14 Aug 2000 20:48:27 -0400

----- Original Message -----
From: "William Wright" <Bilwright@-----.net>
Subject: [kl] Opposite register vent

> 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

>From watching the auctions on eBay, it would appear that this arrangement
started sometime after 1900 and ceased sometime in the 1930s. This is based
on those cases where the instruments offered for auction could be dated from
their serial numbers. It's not absolutely definitive of course as some
instruments could not be dated due to lack of serial number or no
manufacturer/model data. The number of observations is thus limited.

In watching the the auctions, I have seen the wrap around register key on
both Albert system horns and Boehm system horns.

Here is another limited observation. If a key was broken, it was most often
a wrap around register key. This perhaps makes sense from a mechanics
standpoint. The arm from the pivot rod to the cup is long in proportion to
its thickness (note here that I am refering to the ratio here as there are
other long arms on these keys but they are also thicker). This makes it a
relatively weak key and more subject to breakage. While this is a deduction
from basic principles, if one had access to the analytical tools (which do
exist), one could calculate the relative strengths of the two different
register keys. Of course a person could measure it but most people would
not want to do the destructive testing required on their treasures.

Dee Hays

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