Klarinet Archive - Posting 000238.txt from 2002/11

From: "William Semple" <wsemple@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Putty tuning
Date: Tue, 5 Nov 2002 10:16:26 -0500

On one of my older R-13 (1959) clarinets, the problem is that the clarion
register from G to high C goes decidedly sharp, unlike my new R-13, which is
decidedly in tune (for once in my life) top to bottom (I was stunned at how
accurate this latest model is. Something as apparently kicked the Buffet
folks in the butt, or I simply got very lucky).

However, the instrument is in far better tune in the chalumeau.

This could be a barrel problem?

----- Original Message -----
From: "William Wright" <b5w@-----.net>
Subject: Re: [kl] Putty tuning

> <><> somebody wrote:
> what does it do?
>
>
>
> It was only a few weeks ago that Tony Pay convinced me to remove a key
> from my clarinet and clean a hole myself. "Corragio!" he said. So
> the idea of altering my instrument by myself is a new venture for me.
> I don't really understand what I did, but it worked.
>
> I remembered people posting here that they reduced the size of some
> holes in order to change the intonation. Since I was suspicious and
> confused about the effects of my spherical bell (my tuner was refusing
> to measure low F-natural), I decided to do some "putty tuning" to the
> bell's exit hole. I had no idea what would happen. It was just
> something to try, and I could undo the modification easily. Like
> trying a new mouthpiece or barrel just to see what happens.
>
> Decreasing the exit diameter by about 15% sharpened some chalumeau notes
> that were often a few cents flat (even throat Bb!) (depending on my
> embouchure that day) without messing up the remainder of the
> instrument's intonation. It also caused my tuner to report that my low
> F-natural is actually an F-natural. All of my notes up to the top of
> the clarion register retained their added resonance and reduction of
> higher harmonics (which are the reasons that I use the spherical bell in
> the first place).
>
> As a further experiment, I reduced the exit diameter some more, and
> everything fell apart. Some lower notes completely refused to play.
> Obviously I had gone too far.
>
> I used bright orange modelling clay because it never hardens, it's easy
> to see if I want to remove it, and it was easy obtain at 8:00 in the
> evening.
>
> Obviously the putty will fall off in a few days. I can't put my
> instrument on the stand now because the stand would dislodge the putty,
> which required 45 minutes to shape properly. I'll have to keep my eyes
> open that it doesn't fall into a tone hole or stick to a pad or
> whatever.
>
> But since it improved my situation, I'm going to look at semi-permanent
> materials that I can still remove if I mess up on the application.
>
> Yesterday I couldn't even spell instrooment, and now I are deesining
> them!
>
>
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>

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