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Barrels and Tuning

Author: Scott
Date: 2005-06-25 03:49

Okay - as a lot of you know, I joined an orchestra after being away from playing for 25 years. My old clarinet sounds a little sharp compared to the rest of the orchestra. I tried pulling out the barrel and found that it helped. I also have a cheap clarinet that came with 2 barrles (1 a little longer than my original). I used the longer barrel and found that I'm now in tune with my electronic tuner. Was there some type of change that has happened to clarinets from the 70's to now? Why would I need a longer barrel to be in tune at 440? Were instruments tuned to something other than 440 in the past?

Sorry for the dumb questions!

----------------------------
Scott Beard
Celebration Orchestra

Post Edited (2005-06-25 03:50)

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Re: Barrels and Tuning

Author: Arnoldstang
Date: 2005-06-25 12:43

I'll jump in with a start to answering this question. There are a lot a variables here. Firstly , back in the 70's they had long and short barrels too. People use different equipment. Two people playing the same equipment might tune differently because of embouchure etc. Even mouthpieces influence tuning. Some mouthpieces are flatter or sharper than others. Reeds also influence general pitch level. Generally heavier reeds are sharper. Your "cheap" clarinet will also influence tuning. Buying a good clarinet offers you better tuning. I'm sure others will offer many suggestions for you. You might want to list exactly what your equipment is to clarify matters. John

Freelance woodwind performer

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