Klarinet Archive - Posting 000708.txt from 2000/12

From: Sterkel Terrance-W15462 <T.Sterkel@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] some questions on: Tuning and "after market work"
Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2000 23:37:16 -0500

I am glad to see this topic brought up with such clarity,
thank you Mr. Fobes. I have been pondering this topic for
some time and have been looking for a reasonable place to ask
my question.

Some background. I have been in an industry, GSM wireless handsets,
where 1/10 of a mm is considered sloppy, and a production run must
exceed 100,000 units to break even. I also know that it is no problem to
scan in the dimensions of any 3-dimensional object, transfer that to a
milling machine, set up the line and make 1000s of exact duplicates (to
1/100th of a mm) within a week. As for corrosion, the instruments we use
would not last a day in the 90 day environment chambers that are considered
*minimum* standard practice. (I would exclude the temp swings for obvious
reasons.) The hand-work shops are definitely sloppier than the production
runs, and much more expensive, but are needed as they provide trial runs in
the 10s for testing purposes.

Where am I going with this? Simple. I look at a modern Buffet R-13,
1993? and my 1953 R-13 and see better "fit and finish" in the 1953, and
I am puzzled. To me, as an experienced engineer of over 30 years, the
tolerances needed for a musical instrument are exceeded by an order of 10 by
the worst of the machinery I see on the oldest production lines.

Query? What is wrong with the music industry? It would be a simple
exercise to take an acknowledged "superior" instrument. take it apart,
scan the pieces, and make 1000. (I would start with mouthpiece grade hard
rubber for reasons too long to discuss here.) This also applies to the
keywork with is way too soft, dimensionally sloppy, wear and corrosion
vulnerable. Some simple industrial design would fix most of this and to be
blunt, reduce the cost. We do it all the time.

To be blunt, the top of the line Prestige(?) should cost less (adjusted
for inflation) than 1/2 of the 1953 R13.

(you could also add acoustically neutral embedded microphones for recording,
another topic, but you would not believe the current state of the art in
microphones!)

Well? how many toes did I step on this time?

{*}
Terry Sterkel, P.E.
Motorola Personal Communications Sector
mailto:t.sterkel@-----.com
+1 732 878 8662, fax +1 732 878 8001

: -----Original Message-----
: From: Clark W Fobes [mailto:reedman@-----.com]
: Sent: Tuesday, December 12, 2000 8:11 PM
: To: klarinet@-----.org
: Subject: [kl] Tuning and "after market work"
:
:
: I was a Buffet dealer for about seven years and I never
: played an instrument from the factory that was properly set up.
:
: The problem is not that the French are not good craftsman,
: the problem comes from the pressure to produce so many
: instruments in such a limited amount of time. The automation
: of some of the most intricate work (tone hole shape) may have
: created a consistency, but little of the "art" of instrument
: making is seen in modern day instruments.
:
: Here is an interesting excerpt from "The Clarinet" by F.
: Geoffrey Rendall published in 1954:
:
: "...Is craftsmanship dead? Not dead, perhaps, but certainly
: moribund. Modern trends and modern economies are all against
: the small maker with his stock of acquired experience and
: empirical methods. Hand work and simple tools have been
: replaced almost entirely by precision machinery and
: repetition work. The intuition of the old maker, the sixth
: sense, so necessary to perfect results, now comes a bad
: second to the blue-print of the modern operative. The results
: so far are not encouraging. There is little to suggest that
: the assembly line can endow the instrument it produces with a
: soul. The only hope for a rather grim future would seem to
: lie in the growth of a body of improvers and finishers. These
: men, craftsmen in their own right, would not make an
: instrument through out, but would procure the rough models
: from the factory and adapt them for the exacting needs of the
: soloist and orchestral musician by judicious refitting,
: regulation and tuning."
:
: A pretty accurate forecast from 1954. Even though one might
: wish that Buffet and others would make a better finished
: clarinet, I think it is preferable to have these "diamonds in
: the rough" at a reasonable price and pay a good craftsman to
: finish it to your specific needs.
:
: The trick is to know how to choose an instrument with
: potential and to know which flaws are inherent and which can
: be corrected.
:
: There is some information about this in my previously
: mentioned article: "Tuning The Clarinet" at my web site.
:
: Clark W Fobes
:

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