Klarinet Archive - Posting 000317.txt from 2006/04

From: "Karl Krelove" <karlkrelove@-----.net>
Subj: RE: [kl] Festival Clarinet tuning
Date: Sun, 23 Apr 2006 20:57:39 -0400

Well, whether or not you can be "confident" depends a little on what you
expect. Unless there's something unique to Festivals, whatever you do to
correct pitch in one register has consequences in notes that use the same
open holes in the other registers. Throat F and C a twelfth above are often
not (I'd say never, but I haven't tried nearly every instrument out there)
exactly a twelfth - they're a little farther apart. One goal of modern
instrument designers is to minimize the error, but evidently the clarinets
you're looking at don't completely eliminate it. An instrument with really
good intonation will be close, but if "the upper register is very even
pitchwise," it's very predictable that the F will be slightly under. I've
personally never played on a clarinet on which both F and C were in tune -
and it's usually easier when playing to bring the C down slightly than to
push F higher (without opening extra keys for F), so I'd personally opt for
an in tune F and a C that's as close as my tech can manage given the
individual clarinet's acoustics.

So, pick the great sounding one, but expect that with any instrument some
tuning compromises are necessary. In fact, if that's the only one, the
clarinet represents quite an accomplishment.

Karl

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bob and Deborah Shaw [mailto:theshaws10@-----.net]
> Sent: Sunday, April 23, 2006 8:20 PM
> To: klarinet@-----.org
> Subject: RE: [kl] Festival Clarinet tuning
>
> So if I choose the one with the good tone, I can be confident
> that it will work out. It sure is a gorgeous sounding instrumet!
>
> Any suggestions as to a good tech? I would be willing to
> travel to the right person.
>
> Deborah
>

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Klarinet is a service of Woodwind.Org, Inc. http://www.woodwind.org