Klarinet Archive - Posting 000642.txt from 2000/10

From: "Clark W Fobes" <reedman@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] Sharp Clarion A, B & C on A clarinet
Date: Thu, 12 Oct 2000 01:24:45 -0400

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In response to Walter's distress over the sharp upper left hand of his A =
clarinet , Alvin Swiney responded:

"Relatively speaking, the A,B, C Are not sharp. Those 3 noted are in =
tune. =20
It is the other notes on the instrument that are flat. In other words =
the=20
instrument is relatively out of tune within the scale. If you decrease =
the=20
size of the A,B,C tone holes, those note will become stuffy and out of =
tune=20
in the opposing register. The notes are already sharp so enlarging the =
tone=20
hole is not an option."

Huh?

And then he also said.

"My suggestion: Leave those notes alone and undercut the other tone=20
holes to make the instrument play in tune"

Hold the phone. Raising the pitch of all the other notes to match the =
three bad tones seems like putting the cart before the horse. Further, =
raising the pitch of all the other tones will effectively raise the =
pitch of the clarinet into the realm of unuseable.

He also posted:

"Try an Extra small reverse bore Moennig barrel to compensate for the=20
large backbore of your mouthpiece.
The top of the barrel controls the upper register and the lower section =
helps=20
the throat tones. The taper design is critical in the resolution of your =

tuning problem."

Yes this will help, but you may not like the way the instrument sounds, =
plus the extra small taper will raise the pitch of your throat tones , =
which may or may not be desireable.
=20
Finally Mr Swiney also stated:

"When tuning, don't pull out any. Instead, Add Tuning rings on the=20
mouthpiece side of the barrel. The ring will decrease the overall =
volume of=20
the bore without horizontal voids or spaces."

How does this ring placement decrease the overall volume of the bore? =
The rings essentially lengthen the bore. Using the rings will increase =
the volume of the bore and lower the pitch of the probelmatic area, but =
will also lowers the throat tones. Most R-13 A clarinets are flat on =
throat Bb
=20
A, B and C are notoriously sharp on R-13 A clarinets. You can lower them =
a bit by using material in the upper side of the tone hole. I agree that =
there is not a lot of room for this adjustment because the tone hole is =
already small. "A" can usually stand some lowering as the "D" a twelfth =
below is usually a bit sharp. "B" is a problem, because the twelfth =
below "E" is alread low. Same problem with "C/F".

Someone suggested changing register tubes. Was your clarinet ever worked =
on by Brannen? His standard fix for the unstable "A" is to shorten the =
register tube. He usually shortens them too much (IMO) and this raises =
the pitch of of A. B and C. The standard length for a Buffet R-13 =
register tube is .580" I cut these down to .560" If it is shorter than =
that, this may be part of your problem.

Try lowering the pad over the vent as low as you can tolerate (just =
before the throat Bb becomes too muffled). You can usually lower the =
pitch of the A, B and C by 5 cents this way.
=20
Finally, Chris Hill suggested boring out the upper bore of your =
mouthpiece. This is effective, but will change the feel of any =
mouthpiece you are playing. Try it with a blank and then put on the =
facing. I have noticed this characteristic (sharpness in the upper left =
hand) with some of the Zinner blanks I worked with.

I am also in the process of updating my article on tuning the clarinet =
that was published in "The Clarinet" in 1986. I hope to have that up in =
on my website in the next month as well.

Clark w Fobes

=20

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