Klarinet Archive - Posting 000693.txt from 2003/04

From: George Kidder <gkidder@-----.org>
Subj: [kl] Necks and barrels
Date: Sat, 26 Apr 2003 00:40:29 -0400

Dear Folks,

We have had a lot of discussion recently about the influence of minute
variations in the diameter and shape of barrels on the sound quality and
intonation, all related to the soprano clarinet. Walter Grabner says 0.01
mm can be important in a soprano clarinet barrel, although I don't know how
he could measure this without a microscope. My present problem is that of
a barrel with a different twist, so to speak - the neck on a bass clarinet,
which roughly occupies the position of the barrel on a soprano
clarinet. (Of course, some necks have one of the register vents here, so
the analogy is not exact.) The bends in this neck must have a major
effect. For instance, the linear distance from the MP to the top of the
wood part of the horn differs by nearly a centimeter when measured along
the top and the bottom of the S curve. Is this important? Since there is
no straight neck in practical terms (you couldn't reach the keys) can we
compare different curves? Selmer markets a neck described as having the
"new" mouthpiece angle but also placing the instrument closer to the body,
which would seem to me to imply a sharper curve at the top, and I have
seen Kohlert with a similar "compact" neck.

So the question is: Has there been any systematic investigation of bass
clarinet necks comparable to the vast amount of work, good and bad, on
soprano clarinet barrels?

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Klarinet is supported by Woodwind.Org, http://www.woodwind.org/