Klarinet Archive - Posting 000153.txt from 2010/01

From: "James Leonard Hobby" <jhobby@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] full boehm
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 2010 12:54:08 -0500

I agree with Dan. (Big surprise! <g>) The setup for mine was the same as
the ones he referenced, except I didn't have the Eb/Bb. (Isn't there an A
part for Peter and the Wolf? I haven't played it since university days, but
I don't remember a problem.)

The intonation was great on my set. Part of it, I suspose, was that you
have different ways of fingering a lot of notes, if there is a problem. For
example, throat A could be played A-oo3, A-ooo-1oo, -o2o, -oo3, and all of
those plus low G#. I know this one, because, for some reason, I had
problems in one season of opera orchestra where there was a constant
conflict between fl2, ob1 and me. (Never got boring.) I don't remember the
piece I had the problem with, but there was a lr Bb/Eb tremulo. Instead of
"flapping", finger Bb and trill left 2-3. The lh G#/D# was great. The
articulated C#/G# was really helpful to me, because as I got older, my left
pinky slowed down, and somebody really likes to write C/C# & G/G# trills and
you move the trill to the right second finger.

I didn't have any problem with both fitting into a single case, as Diego
commented. The low Eb/Bb key might have made a difference there. I don't
know.

I received my set as a gift from my mother, when I graduated high school, so
I played it from the beginning of university all the way through my playing
years, up through retirement. And I wish I had never sold it then, deciding
to just play bass. I sure won't find a new set for $1200 any more. <g>
But, unless forced to do it, I wouldn't play a "standard" set.

Jim Hobby

>From: "Dan Leeson" <dnleeson@-----.net>
>Subject: Re: [kl] full boehm
>Message-ID: <906FB81E08624A43BCD01B55B1AE833D@danielsys>
>
>I suspect that like most things, the term "full Boehm clarinet" has
>different meanings to different people. I owned two full Boehm clarinets
>and played on them for years. Each instrument had the following items that
>were unique to a full Boehm instrument some 30 years ago, but some of which
>are now on the traditional clarinet.
>
>They are:
>
> 1. low E-flat (written) which is the note called for on a B-flat
>clarinet in Peter and the Wolf;
> 2. a-flat (lower register)/e-flat (upper register) key with left hand
>pinky touchpiece, giving those notes on both sides of the clarinet;
> 3. articulated b-natural/c-sharp in the low register, and
>f-sharp/g-sharp in the upper register (this for use in the notorious
>f-sharp/g-sharp trill in the opera Carmen; i.e., the smuggler's music which
>begins with a bassoon solo and then is duplacted in the clarinet; last
>weekend it was played live from the Met in NY, and whoever played it did
>not
>have the articulated key; the intonation on that trill was very suspect
>because of that instrument's deficiency;
> 4. g/b-flat tremulo in the upper register; it is supposed to work for a
>c/e-flat in the lower register too, but the intonation on my instruments
>for
>that tremulo was not satisfactory; didn't use that facility very much..
>
>Mazzeo always told me that such instruments had intonation difficulties but
>I did not find this to be the case.

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