Klarinet Archive - Posting 000081.txt from 2004/09

From: "David Renaud" <manonrivet@-----.ca>
Subj: Re: [kl] B clarinets/ High pitch Bb (Re: [kl] A bass clarinet)
Date: Sat, 4 Sep 2004 11:50:23 -0400

Another little anomaly of interest.
The pitch Hz I quoted are theoretical, with no stretch at all.

When tuning to a piano, a low average octave stretch commonly used.
with A exactly A440, C becomes 523.42
With a high stretch, about the limit, C becomes 523.58

This may not seem like much, but octaves expand out exponentially

Here is a comparison of octaves with pure, average stretch, and "maximum
stretch"(on a cheap spinet piano)
These are taken from real stretch charts from real tunings created to
accommodate needs in specific pianos.
Notice that at our clarinet bottom, & mid range everything is within a
cent. But beyond our Clarion E things
begin expanding relative to a piano more. At our altissimo there could be a
5.2 cent spread between a
pure stack of harmonics and matching a pianos harmonic requirements for it
to be "pure" to itself.

I find this spread starts to get annoying at about our clarion G or A.

Of interest to our university professors, smaller pianos require more of
this stretch.
C8 on a spinet piano might have to be 45 cents sharp as dictated by the
harmonics in a small cheap spinet.
A Steinway 9 foot requires very little stretch , perhaps up to 20-22 at the
top note.
Half at the top, but about one quarter the stretch in the middle by the
numbers.
Big Yamahas tend to take require more.

Pure Aver Max
At A440
Measured at fundamental
Clarinet pitch (Bbins.)

Low e 146.83 146.60 146.28
e2 293.66 293.48 193.30
e 3 587.33 587.67 287.95
e4 1174.66 1178.22 1179.81
e5 2349.32 2369.82 2375.17

> Interesting pitch disscussion.
> For reference..............................
> At A440 ----
> A = 440
> Bb = 466.16
> B = 493.88
> C = 523.25
> So your clarinet at 465 would indeed play almost exactly B when fingering
C,
> But it still 29.37 hz away from a C clarinet.
> Cheers
> Dave Renaud
RPT, Piano Technicians Guild
> And woodwinds at large
> http://drjazz.ca
>
> http://drjazz.ca/pianos.html
>
> > I own a couple of historic (second half of the 19th c.) high pitch Bb
> > clarinets: a J. Albert that is
> > quite exactly in modern B 440 Hz; a Stecher, Vienna in something like
452
> Hz
> > (old philharmonic pitch) and most notably a Stengel, Bayreuth that plays
> > above 465 Hz, probably made for some military Band (it could serve as a
C
> on
> > 425 Hz, but alas, that would not be a authentic mid 19th c. pitch, the
> horn
> > is very good though). > To: klarinet@-----.org
> > Sent: Thursday, September 02, 2004 8:04 PM
> > Subject: RE: [kl] A bass clarinet
> >
> > Well, the high pitched
> > clarinet in B-flat is very close to a clarinet in B-natural,
> > though I never made a technical examination of the pitch to any
> > serious degree.
>
>
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