Klarinet Archive - Posting 000665.txt from 2003/03

From: Tony@-----.uk (Tony Pay)
Subj: Re: [kl] Tuning rings, pulling out and so on
Date: Sun, 16 Mar 2003 20:56:27 -0500

On Sun, 16 Mar 2003 18:37:53 -0600, muse@-----.net said:

> >
> > Because clearly, there is no 'should'.
> >
> > Tony
> > --
>
> My director seems very irate with the clarinets pulling out at any
> place other than the barrel. How does one, such as myself who hasn't
> studied the clarinet in detail as a professional musician might,
> contradict such a person based on "it sounds better this way"?

It's difficult to talk this in the abstract. There are many things that
contribute to defective intonation on the clarinet that cannot be
addressed by doing such things as pulling out -- or by using a shorter
barrel, if you need to go in the opposite direction.

Despite what others have said, on this sort of level I don't find it
unequivocal that pulling out at the mouthpiece gives significantly
better results than what your director says you 'should' do. Many good
players pull out at the barrel, when they pull out at all. In my view,
his insistence in this regard is less worrying than what it seems to
indicate about his attitude in general. But that might be a wrong
assumption on my part.

> Or get the section, or persons in the section with a particular
> intonation problem, to try new tuning adjustments? A lot of us in
> this band are 'returnees' to our given instruments and the clarinet
> section this year, save a few, is not very strong as a unit. Some
> sort of shift in thinking regarding tuning, I think would help (as a
> starter). But without the support of the band leader how do we
> accomplish this?

Can you get an expert clarinet player to coach your section? My own
experience of dealing with groups of clarinet players is that you need
to say different things to different people when dealing with their
intonation problems. Some of those things are to do with equipment,
some to do with choice of reeds, some to do with technical aspects of
instrument address, and almost all to do with listening and awareness.

Whether you pull out at mouthpiece or barrel is the least of your
worries, I'd say.

> maybe i should just grin and bear it?

Nah. Keep being concerned:-)

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