 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Liquorice
Date: 2003-09-10 21:07
In the thread on switching between B-flat and A clarinets, Ken Shaw wrote:
"Bernard Portnoy, for one, believes that any gap at the bottom of the barrel spoils the tone, and, with his back turned, he could easily hear the difference between my playing with the barrel pulled out, with and without a tuning ring inserted. Steve Hartman, a super player, has had the gap in his middle joint filled in with a cork shim, though that's as much to prevent a wobble as for acoustical reasons. My own feeling is that tuning rings create a repeatable position, so that you can be reliably in tune, and that there is at least a small improvement from filling in the gap."
My own experience with tuning rings has been quite different, which is why I thought I'd start a new thread on the topic.
Where I live we play at A=442. This has the disadvantage on Buffet clarinets that the throat notes tend to be quite sharp. I always have to pull out a few millimetres at the barrel. Because of this I tried using tuning rings, because it seems logical that the sound and intonation should be better when you don't have a "hole" in your bore created by pulling out.
What I found was that the throat notes (specifically B-flat and A) were actually sharper with a tuning ring in the gap that they were without it, pulled out at the same distance. I have no idea why this should be the case. I couldn't notice any big difference in tone quality.
As far as having a repeatable position, I have to disagree with that too. I constantly have to make small adjustments of how much I pull out, depending on how warm my instrument is. If I pick up a cold A clarinet, I'll hardly pull out at the barrel, whereas once I've been playing on it for 10 minutes I'll have pulled quite a bit at the barrel, and also some at the middle.
It's also nice to be able to push in on the odd occasion that you have to play a very loud low F (for example), just to make sure that you're not too flat. You can't do this if a tuning ring is in the way.
So I haven't found tuning rings to be very useful at all. Has anybody had other experiences?
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Author: Fred
Date: 2003-09-10 22:44
I just love it when they get stuck in place and I have to use sharp metal objects inside the bore of my Buffet.
Easy . . . easy . . . #$@#!!
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Author: BobD
Date: 2003-09-11 13:21
Have never used any. I guess my attitude is that if a horn needs them to play intune I wouldn't bother playing that horn. Am I wrong?
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Author: John O'Janpa
Date: 2003-09-11 13:28
I always had to pull out to be in tune, and was having problems with the tenon swelling from water getting in the end grain.
I made a tuning ring out of a rubber hose washer. Working with an emory board and a tuner, I kept sanding it down until I was in tune.
I apply cork grease to the tuning ring when assembling the clarinet, and the swelling problems have vanished.
I always warm up completely before rehearsals or performances, and have found that, thus far,(about a year) I have been in tune with the barrel all the way in against the tuning ring.
It can be easily removed if the need arises.
I haven't noticed a difference in sound or performance.
I still am watching for a bargain priced 67 mm barrel for my clarinet.
John
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2003-09-11 14:22
Tuning rings:
Have 'em.
Tried 'em.
They don't do nuttin' for me.
Don't use 'em no more.
Yes I can speak English.
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Author: Avie
Date: 2003-09-11 14:42
Yes, I have been esperimenting Liquorice. I have never tryed a tuning ring because I have learned that it would bennifit only a certain range of sharp or flat notes on my buffet. Pulling out the barrel has the same disadvantages but I have the choice of adjusting the height according to the weather and other variables on a given day. The barrel that came with my buffet is probably the best length for adjustments of this kind. When warned up Low E, F, & G are about 20 cents flat but A thru altisimo G are pretty much in tune with the barrel in after warm up. Before warm up I can pull out the barrel to compensate for about 5-10 cents of sharpness of the higher notes and without any noticeable intonation change. Maybe a slightly shorter barrel would compensate for the flat low notes but I would then have to pull out for the majority of the others. A few flat notes arent as anoying to me as the sharp ones so I do the best I can with my barrel using my tuner. Maybe a reliable tech could make other fine adjustments to improve this problem but probably not to perfection.
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2003-09-11 14:43
Liquorice -
Without tuning rings, the gap between the end of the tenon and the bottom of the socket increases the volume of the bore, which lowers the pitch. It's therefore logical that inserting a tuning ring will raise the pitch, and proportionately more in the throat tones because the indrease in bore volume is proportionately greater in the shorter sounding length. Obviously it works for you, which is all that counts. My Portnoy story was more about tone quality than intonation.
John -
I did exactly the same thing when I played a Leblanc Eb in the University of Tennessee Band and Knoxville Symphony many years ago. I used garden hose washers sanded to fit, extending the barrel at the top and bottom by at leat 3 mm. It was the only way the instrument would play even close to in tune.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Jeroen
Date: 2003-09-11 15:40
Recently I made a wooden tuning ring for my Bundy Eb because I had to pull always at least 3 mm.
I shaped it to match the barrel bore as close as possible (extending the reverse taper of the barrel).
Still not convinced whether the tuning has improved but tone quality certainly changed: the ring helps to center the throat tones. However the tone seems also a bit "thinner" in general.
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