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Herbert Wurlitzer Clarinet

Author: Rafi
Date: 2011-10-10 13:46
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Hi,
It has a few months since I received the Reform Boehm, (RB) and I will post my progress while transferring from my French instrument to the RB, I have also posted some pictures of my RB Bb for you.
General Construction:
I think I will start with the RB keys design, from the first impression you can see the Bb fork with the Bb improvement (extra hole), the Bb fork is similar to the Oehler system or the Schmidt-Kolbe system.
In the lower joint you can see a few extra padded venting holes for the improvement of intonation.
In the bell there is the lower e/f improvement which is controlled similar to the bass clarinet.
All of these improvements make the general mechanics more complicated but the end result is AMAZING! And the fingering stays the same without having to result to alternative fingering, for example when playing the throat Bb on my Selmer the regular fingering i.e. RA---\--- is bad and I have to use alternative fingering such as A---\2---, with the RB the regular fingering is enough, the throat Bb is clear, the sound is dark, warm and focused it is really an amazing instrument.
Tuning:
There has been a lot of talk in the Bboard in regards to the RB tuning; well I have tested it over and over under the following criteria:
1. Warming up for an hour.
2. After warm up playing with a tuner set to 440Hz and after replacing the barrel setting the tuner to 442Hz, (I own the KORG).
3. I have tune tested my RB according to Concert Bb – my C, Concert A, my B, concert F, & G, my G & A.
All of the notes are in perfect tone, (although when pressing the e/f improvement key the B4 and C5 are sharp by 10 cents so I keep it close and I am in perfect tone).
Main challenges:
As a Selmer player, (I have the Selmer 10S setup with the Backun barrel, bell and the Vandoren CL4 mouthpiece) I still have a hard time remembering to lift the instrument, (I remember when I hear the sound closing – if you can call it that).
The mouthpiece is different, (I use the WZ2, a Herbert Wurlitzer RB standard mouthpiece) and the embouchure is different, (if not blowing correctly it may influence tuning), so I keep reminding myself to pull the chin down and say 'O' when playing.
The keys location and resistance is subjective, the Selmer has larger and harder key movement, so I am playing a lot of scales especially the chromatic scale to teach my self the proper fingering position.
Summary:
The Herbert Wurlitzer RB instruments are amazing both in sound character and intonation, (at least it is to me, I have always looked for the dark sweet and focused sound).
I still have a lot of work to do with the proper fingering, embouchure and instrument holding angle.
I will keep updating you,

Rafi

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