 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: sistaskriket
Date: 2012-10-20 09:48
Hi,
I recently bought a second-hand Noblet C-clarinet (in very good shape) wich sounds significantly low at 440 Hz, measured with a tuner. My Bb-clarinets don't have this problem. It came with a Selmer mouthpiece. It makes no difference wich barrel or mouthpiece I use (I have several), it 's still too low.
My questions:
* Do C-clarinets require a special barell, intended for C-clarinets?
* Can different reeds make a C-clarinet sound lower than it should?
* Can there be any other reason making it sound low?
* How to fix it?
I have 3 Bb-clarinets and they all play in tune.
Thank's for all advice in advance
/Sistaskriket
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2012-10-20 10:19
A modern C clarinet has a barrel in the range of about 45mm..50mm, versus about 65mm for a Bb instrument. A Bb barrel will not only make it sound flat, it will throw the tuning of the whole instrument out of whack.
A different reed or mouthpiece is in most cases not needed, however.
Edit: fixed typo in Bb barrel length - of course it's 65mm...
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Ben
Post Edited (2012-10-20 15:58)
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2012-10-20 13:12
Budget hint: Ask your friendly repair person if he/she has a suitable old Vito/Bundy/Chinese plastic barrel in that famous drawer which he/she could shorten appropriately on the lathe. In most cases, the Bb and C bores are the same, and it's probably the cheapest "proof of concept" you can have.
If the proper barrel size has been determined, you may still shop for a nice wooden one.
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Ben
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Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2012-10-20 13:32
Actually, Bb barrels are more typically around 64-67mm.
Did your clarinet not come with its original barrel? My Selmer C clarinet from the 1970s came with two barrels, one 46mm and one 50mm. I think the shorter barrel is for use with a standard Bb mouthpiece and the longer one is for use with a mouthpiece made from a (smaller) C-clarinet mouthpiece blank.
You probably need a barrel that will work with a Bb mouthpiece. A friend of mine has a Noblet and it appears to have been designed to work with a Bb mouthpiece. I expect yours was too. C mouthpieces for Boehm clarinets are actually all but extinct these days. I don't think anyone makes one any more. As I recall someone on this Board has one that was made by Morgan. He may have been the last to make one and I doubt he made very many. A couple of mouthpiece makers, e.g., Walter Grabner, advertise that they make a mouthpiece that works well with a C clarinet. However, AFAIK, these are still Bb mouthpieces made from a Bb blank.
After-market barrels for C clarinets can be difficult to find. Morrie Backun makes them. So does Clark Fobes. Allen Segal may also make them but I don't find any mention of them on his website. Perhaps he does not have the necessary reamers. He might be worth contacting, however.
Best regards,
jnk
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2012-10-20 15:59
Jack, of course you're right, the Bb is 65-ish mm - I fixed that typo in my post, thanks.
For what it's worth, wooden C barrels (46mm?) can be ordered from Amati as a replacement for their 251/351 models at rather modest cost.
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Ben
Post Edited (2012-10-20 16:02)
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Author: Simon Aldrich
Date: 2012-10-20 16:15
sistaskriket - I had Allan Segal make a shorter barrel for my Forte C clarinet and the result was incredible. See a relevant thread at:
http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/read.html?f=1&i=345956&t=345816
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Author: larryb
Date: 2012-10-20 18:20
I have a Noblet C clarinet that came with a 53mm barrel, which seems unusually long. It still plays sharp, so I pull out at the joint to make it play nicely in tune.
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2012-10-20 18:31
Instead of guessing about the correct barrel length, maybe those who own a C clarinet could measure the distance from top-of-barrel to say middle-of-thumb-hole.
On my Amati, it's 14.05 cm. It uses a standard Bb mouthpiece.
--
Ben
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Author: Caroline Smale
Date: 2012-10-20 18:43
The standard barrel on my Noblet C clarinet measures 53.0 mm and tunes correctly with a normal Bb mouthpiece.
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Author: cigleris
Date: 2012-10-20 19:45
What is the correct pitch? I'm assuming the OP needs his to be a A=442 and not A=440. Am I correct? A=440 would be ideal in the UK and therefore in tune.
Peter Cigleris
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Author: Ralph Katz
Date: 2012-10-21 01:37
I don't think there is any standard barrel length for C clarinets. Between the makers that picked any old barrel length, those who required special mouthpieces, the low pitch instruments, and instruments that just never played in tune, pretty much every instrument has to be assessed completely on its own.
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Author: Wes
Date: 2012-10-21 06:40
My Marcel Deleau C clarinet plays best with a 51 mm barrel. The 50 mm barrel with it is a bit sharp and I would prefer a barrel that will tune at 440 at normal room temperature. I suppose that there are no stock barrels at 51 length available, however. A custom wood barrel would cost more than I should invest, considering how rarely it gets played.
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