 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: barney
Date: 2015-04-02 22:14
Hi,
I have a 1999 R-13 Bb that has some intonation issues. The throat tones are very sharp, the low register is flat, the clarion is OK and the altissimo is flat. I've considered purchasing a Moennig barrel to compensate for these issues but don't know what size to get, or even if it will help. I'm still using my original 66mm R-13 barrel with either a clark fobes or borbeck 12 mpc and 3 1/2 V12 reeds. I've tried pulling out the joints but the throat tones are especially bad (Bb/A/Ab). Thumb F and below are flat. Any suggestions? It's a great-sounding horn with no leaks but the intonation is tricky. I don't feel like shelling out $3000 for a new R-13 and I do get compliments for my sound but would like to address these issues. I'm using alternate fingerings in the throat tone areas to squash the pitch in held notes. I'm a 54 year old amateur player (above average).
analog9@hotmail.com
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2015-04-02 22:47
On the surface this sounds like a really odd problem. I had a similar experience when I was auditing a few Chadash barrels. The very top tube notes where screaming sharp but everything else sounded great.
I think though you need to realize the the "native" pitch for any given situation will be found in the longer tube clarion register (third space "C" up to top line "F"). The short tube notes (particularly in the chalumeau) can be affected quite negatively EITHER direction depending on what is going wrong. My guess (literally a guess) is that you are exerting TOO much jaw pressure (pinching or squeezing or......biting the reed). This would make the upper tube notes subject to going farther out of tune than the longer tube note could ever hope to be affected.
Start with an open "G" and 'relaxing' your embouchure (while still maintaining a good center to your timbre). Try to get that note solidly in tune (wherever you set things to have the typical sharp issues). Then do the same for "A," and finally "Bb" always dwelling long enough (this may take several minutes or more each note) to 'lock in' your pitch. I trust you are using a decent electronic tuner.
..............Paul Aviles
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Author: barney
Date: 2015-04-02 23:10
Yes, I have to relax my embouchure. I bite the heck out of the mouthpiece and have eaten though many teeth guards, leaving indentations on the mouthpiece. I also double on sax which makes playing the low notes tough because of the tension in my jaw. I will work on these issues over the summer when my playing subsides. For now I will try to make short-term adjustments.
analog9@hotmail.com
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Author: kdk
Date: 2015-04-03 17:36
The sharp throat notes and the flat altissimo may have different causes.
Since it's a 1999 R-13, did you buy it new back then, or did you buy it used? If you bought it used, it's possible that a previous owner, maybe to solve the often discussed (here) problem of flat throat notes using a Vandoren Series 13 mouthpiece, had the those notes brought up, possibly by undercutting or even enlarging the tone holes. If this is the case (you may need an experienced tech to confirm or eliminate this), you can bring G, G# and A back down by adding tape inside the top of the tone holes. This will probably end up being the best solution anyway, because lowering the throat notes with a barrel or a mouthpiece will make the rest of the instrument flatter, and it sounds like you don't want that.
If the whole chalumeau is flat, you might need to use a shorter barrel and bring the throat notes down even more. If only low E and F are flat, that's pretty typical of R-13s - I think of French Boehm clarinets in general - and most of us just live with it.
The flat altissimo may well be caused by other problems entirely. Too soft reeds, poor air *control* or flow, biting (which distorts the embouchure in ways that can cause sagging pitch), too little mouthpiece in your mouth and a few other things that it would be easier to diagnose if we could hear you play.
Karl
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