Klarinet Archive - Posting 000248.txt from 2002/08

From: LeliaLoban@-----.com
Subj: [kl] Clarinet rolling.
Date: Mon, 26 Aug 2002 08:48:27 -0400

Britt Park wrote,
>When I play F, F#, G, A, Bb (left hand only in the
>chalumeau register) my clarinet (Buffet R13) wants
>to roll clockwise (looking down the clarinet from the
>moutphiece). [snip] I've experimented with the
>thumbrest position and thumb position relative to the
>thumb rest.

Also try changing the *texture* of the thumb rest. I've had a problem with
metal clarinets feeling as though they want to roll clockwise, because the
skinniness of the metal clarinets exaggerates the difference in weight
between the left-hand side and the right where more pinky-key levers are
located. The thumbrests all had either no padding or a thin piece of cork.

Experimenting with whatever was handy at the moment, I tried several
solutions. The one that worked best was to glue a 12mm clarinet pad to the
bottom of the thumbrest! The cushioning and friction were just right; but
that solution would have meant wasting a perfectly good clarinet pad, and
looked too silly even for an audience of one cat. So I liberated the
clarinet pad and tried some other stuff.

The best and most acceptable-looking substitute turned out to be one of those
felt dots (sold in sheets at hardware stores; I bought mine at Home Depot)
meant for sticking on the bottoms of knickknacks to prevent scratching of the
furniture. The felt dots are ubiquitous in pool table green, but they're
available in neutral colors, too, including white, gray, black and dark
brown. They come packaged on waxed paper backing. Peeling them off the
paper exposes self-sticking adhesive that's quite durable. The dots come in
several different thicknesses. The size that works best for me is 1/8"
thick. Before peeling the dot off the backing, I cut the edges of the felt
to fit the contour of the thumbrest.

Lelia

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