Klarinet Archive - Posting 000087.txt from 2005/07

From: "Lelia Loban" <lelialoban@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] Clarinet repair question and [kl] Buzzing
Date: Thu, 07 Jul 2005 09:15:20 -0400

> I just got a new Bb r13 that is just about perfect
>except I'm noticing a strange buzzing sound behind
>certain notes like the long B and throat e and g right
>above the fifth stave. A fellow clarinet who was
>listening said he thought it emanated from the register
>key and that he had a similar problem at one point.

Tom Henson suggested that a wrinkled pad might cause this problem, and I
agree it's likely. Oddly enough, I just had the same problem, in a Bb
soprano Yamaha YCL20 that I picked up at a flea market last weekend.
That's a student instrument made of plastic. (I can't find serial numbers
for Yamahas, but was that model number discontinued around 2001 -- ?) It
was in clean condition with no moisture damage, although I could see that
it had been dropped. I could play it, but it buzzed and squeaked.

Clark Fobes wrote,
>>A very common origin of these mysterious vibrations is
>>from the side trill keys. The ends of the keys closest to
>>the hand (opposite end from the pad cup) can become so
>>close that they vibrate against eachother.

This clarinet had that problem. The lowest trill key lever was bent
upwards. Probably that happened when the clarinet fell. The next trill
key lever hung up on the bent key and failed to close properly. I bent the
key back into place. The pads all looked good except for two torn ones
(both on scuffed, bent key cups, where the clarinet had landed!) that I
replaced. At this point, the squeaks and some of the worst buzzing
disappeared, but unfortunately, the clarinet still buzzed, the intonation
sounded appalling (seriously flat overall, with several notes even flatter)
and a lot of the keys clicked loudly.

Someone had worked on this instrument before. I could see glue residue
where the original, broader bumper corks had been, and it was different
from the glue on the replacements. The replaced key corks were made of
some rubbery, synthetic material that appeared to have been pre-cut in only
three sizes. They made an annoyingly loud, high-pitched click. Worse,
many of these corks were too thin and too narrow, allowing the keys to open
too wide. Some of the remaining old corks flapped loose, another potential
source of buzzing. I re-glued all of the loose original corks that were in
good enough condition to keep, and replaced all of the worn out or
synthetic cork bumpers with custom-fitted real cork.

When I got done with the key pads, the intonation improved considerably and
the clarinet buzzed less, but it still buzzed on some notes.

Clark Fobes wrote,
>>I recommend cork pads on all of the upper joint
>>pads that remain closed when the instrument is at rest.

I'm not going to make a fool of myself by disagreeing with Clark Fobes, and
I'm perfectly willing to accept his opinion that cork pads are better for
the upper keys. Nonetheless, whenever I get an instrument with cork pads,
I replace them with skin. I'd rather take the small amount of time to
replace my pads more often than listen to the noise of cork pads. That
goes double for synthetic cork pads -- and that leads to the final bit of
work on this Yamaha.

Although the synthetic cork register key pad was in good condition, wasn't
loose and didn't leak, I disliked the loud clunk it made when it closed.
It doesn't make a lot of sense to me that the higher-pitched sound of a pad
made of cork or a synthetic bothers me when the dull thud of a skin pad
doesn't, but -- well, anyhow, when I replaced the synthetic cork register
key pad with a conventional fishskin pad, the buzzing finally stopped.

Lelia Loban

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