Klarinet Archive - Posting 000071.txt from 2002/05

From: Tony@-----.uk (Tony Pay)
Subj: RE: [kl] tuning: which side of the barrel?
Date: Thu, 2 May 2002 23:29:27 -0400

On Thu, 02 May 2002 17:15:44 -0400, karlkrelove@-----.net said:

> > From: Gooden, J.H.M. [mailto:gooden@-----.nl]
> >
> > Last week I had some discussion with another clarinetist on the way
> > how I tune my clarinet: by pulling on the mouthpiece side of the
> > barrel. He suggested that only pulling on the other side could be
> > considered.
>
> The lack of traffic on this thread suggests that it really doesn't
> make much difference which side of the barrel you tune from. If either
> cork gets wobbly, that condition is a separate issue and should be
> fixed - anything that wobbles while you're playing can't be good. :-)

The day that lack of (or indeed excess of) traffic on this list means
*anything significant whatever* about what is being discussed will be
*the* day.

But apropos this question: it's well known that bore variation affects
intonation on the clarinet. In particular, it affects the twelfths
(relationships between notes in the lower register and notes obtained
with the same fingerings plus the register key).

'Pulling out' without introducing rings to compensate for the air-gap
produced is tantamount to a bore variation. Therefore, intonation is
affected by pulling out.

But it's difficult to make any pronouncements about *how* it's
affected, because there is a lot of variation of mouthpiece and barrel
dimensions between players. Still, a useful rule of thumb is that a
variation in bore at a distance x from the mouthpiece affects twelfths
that are generated by fundamentals at a distance 1.5x and 3x from the
mouthpiece. That 'sort of' means that pulling out at the mouthpiece
affects the higher notes more than pulling out at the barrel.

But what *can* be said is that pulling out at the mouthpiece or the
instrument end of your barrel will make the difference on your
instrument....that it makes:-)

Use your tuner (or buy yourself one, they're not that expensive
nowadays) and experiment.

Tony
--
_________ Tony Pay
|ony:-) 79 Southmoor Rd Tony@-----.uk
| |ay Oxford OX2 6RE http://classicalplus.gmn.com/artists
tel/fax 01865 553339

... Make Headlines..use a corduroy pillow....

---------------------------------------------------------------------