Klarinet Archive - Posting 000190.txt from 2006/04

From: "George Huba" <ghuba@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] RE: [k] info on "McIntire" clarinet
Date: Tue, 18 Apr 2006 18:27:07 -0400

-----Original Message-----
From: Lacy, Edwin [mailto:el2@-----.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, April 18, 2006 1:02 PM
To: klarinet@-----.org
Subject: RE: [kl] info on "McIntire" clarinet

<<<Can anybody give me any information on a "McIntire" fingering system
Bb clarinet?>>>

I once had a student who had a McIntire clarinet. I played on it a
little, and found it to be a really ingenious idea. The main problem
was that the clarinets on which they installed this fingering system
were not the greatest. I think they were mid-line instruments of one of
the major manufacturers. They may have been Normandie or Noblet
clarinets from LeBlanc.

I am a woodwind doubler, and so I'm used to negotiating all the various
fingering eccentricities of the woodwind instruments, so I found getting
used to the McIntire fingering system not to be too much of a problem.
I suspect that someone who has played Boehm system clarinet all of their
life might find it a little more difficult.

There are many passages that are simpler on the McIntire. For example,
rapid shakes between written middle C and the Bb on the 3rd line are
next to impossible on the Boehm system, but is a piece of cake on the
McIntire, where it is accomplished by moving only one finger. (Trill
the thumb.)

That's only one example. And, the I found it really a pleasure to have
all the throat tones in tune and with a much more solid tone quality
than we are all accustomed to. I wish that they had been able to put
the mechanism on a really good quality clarinet.

Ed Lacy
University of Evansville

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According to the article at
www.uark.edu/ua/nc/nccollectionpage/page/mcintyre.htm, the McIntyre
clarinets were manufactured by Thibouville Freres, Ivry-la-Bataille and
assembled at the shop of the McIntyres in Naugatuck, Connecticut.

The key work on both the grenadilla and plastic models appears to be
identical, although it also appears that different plating materials or
methods may have been used for the wooden and plastic models (comparing
several wooden samples to a single plastic one). While similar to Leblanc
keys of the era, the key work appears to be slightly more stylized and
lighter weight than that of Leblanc with the exception of the McIntyre
mechanism which has a series of very angular and heavy weight keys and 6
separate adjustment screws that all must be in balance for the mechanism to
work properly. Very minor adjustment problems in one or more of these screws
throws the mechanism out of balance, and its "weight" may be necessary for
its proper mechanical operation.

The primary fingering differences are as follows:

G# is played with LH3 [thumb hole open]
A is played with LH2 [thumb hole open] or LH2 + LH3 [thumb hole open]
A# is played with LH1 + LH2 [thumb hole open] or LH1 + LH2 + LH2 [thumb hole
open]
An Alternate A# fingering is LH 2 + register key [thumb hole open]

What strikes me as especially odd about this fingering system is that one is
closing the "main" tone holes [while consequently opening levered holes
higher on the clarinet] to go up in pitch. I am not sure exactly how you
would explain to a student that for most notes you close holes to go down,
but for these three, you close tone holes to go up!

A big problem with the system is that it is mechanically creative but
logically paradoxical.

George

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