Klarinet Archive - Posting 000723.txt from 2002/07

From: CBA <clarinet10001@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Re: What kind of mouthpiece does a soprano C clarinet take?
Date: Tue, 23 Jul 2002 20:18:19 -0400

I guess I still didn't make my point. I am using a Chadash
barrel on my C clarinet, and the mouthpiece I was using before
for my Bb/A setup does NOT work with ANY barrels I have tried
for the C clarinet in ANY length or taper.

The C clarinet is much more finicky for mouthpieces, and I think
the mouthpiece should be chosen first, and then go from there. I
did not have the option to add the barrel and fix the problem,
and when I found the right mouthpiece that was still a little
long, it made more sense to alter the MOUTHPIECE length, so I
could use MULTIPLE barrels, than being stuck with *one* barrel
length to compensate for the mouthpiece, and NOT be able to get
a shorter one for a higher pitch or a longer one for a lower
pitch. The mouthpieces made for Bb clarinets are by nature too
long for the C clarinet, so why not shorten it? The barrels ARE
made for the C Clarinet, so you should be able to switch barrels
on C like on Bb and A for different things.

In a car, if you had a compatability problem with the steering
wheel and the tires, you would alter the steering wheel to be
for all tires, since it is less interchangeable than the tires,
right? If you made the tires constant for off-road, and then
just changed to a smaller steering wheel for on road traffic,
and a bigger steering wheel for off road mountains, that would
seem silly and take a lot of work to coordinate, wouldn't it?

Just my opinion...YMMV.

I'm not trying to be argumentative...REALLY!

Kelly Abraham
Woodwinds - New York City
--- GrabnerWG@-----.com wrote:
> In a message dated Tue, 23 Jul 2002 10:23:15 AM Eastern
> Standard Time, Gregory@-----.com writes:
>
> << Chadash makes a standard C barrel that is designed to play
> on C clarinets with regular Bb mouthpieces. All 4 of us in the
> Chicago Symphony clarinet section play our C clarinets (Buffet
> and Leblanc) with our regular Bb mouthpieces. ......>>
>
> Greg, thanks for your contribution on this issue. Although I
> do not claim to be in the same league as Guy Chadash, I too
> have made barrels for "C" clarinets that have addressed this
> issue well.
>
> It seems to me that most "C" clarinet barrels are too short
> and have a bore that is too wide. Several I have measured have
> a totally cylindrical bore of nearly 15 mm. Put this with any
> good mouthpiece, and you will have intonation problems.
>
> I have had good success by making a barrel about 1 to 1.5 mm
> longer, incorporating a narrowre bore with a rather severe
> inverse conical taper.
>
> I made such a barrel for David Niethamer's Buffet C, and I
> believe it was a complete success. (I think this C was once
> owned by our very own Dan Leeson!).
>
> Anyway, my $.02 worth.
>
> Walter Grabner
> www.clarinetXpress.com

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