 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: Tim Wilson
Date: 2000-06-25 13:08
I'm having a little trouble getting my full boehm Buffet Bb clarinet to play in tune. It may be because the barrel length is not right. The barrel that came with the instrument is only 64 mm! Does anyone know what barrel length is recommended or most common with this clarinet? Because the lower section is so long (a full inch longer than the R-13), I suspect some non-standard length is probably needed, but i don't have a lot of extra barrels to try and I wonder if someone else has had experience with this. Thanks!
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: andrea
Date: 2000-06-25 14:34
What are you trying to play in tune with?
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Al
Date: 2000-06-25 16:44
Yes. My R-13 came withh a 66mm barrell but I use 65mm. It's a somewhat older R-13.
With the 65mm, I have to be careful about sharpness in the throat tones. Is that where you're having trouble?
I feel that 64mm would give some intonation problems there.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Al
Date: 2000-06-25 16:49
Addenda:
Pull out the barrel in small increments and test with a tuner. Check all registers.
If things improve, and they should, you need a longre barrel. Best wishes,
Al
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Sherwood W. Franklin
Date: 2000-06-25 17:09
Have you checked the pitch of your clarinet? It may be a 442.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Don Berger
Date: 2000-06-25 17:14
May I suggest you let us know the age [via ser. no.] of your cl which may tell it's "constructed pitch". My old Selmer FB [from 1920-30's] was quite flat to "modern" pitches of 440-2, so I tried out a number of barrels, settling on a 60 mm!!, pulled [with tuning ring] about 2-3 mm which is now reasonably tuned. My old Penzel-Mueller was similarly flat, but with a shorter barrel is still not well in tune, dern it. Of course I play the Sel when needed. Don
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Sherwood W. Franklin
Date: 2000-06-25 17:20
I just checked the barrel on my Buffet full boehm. It is 64mm. I remember that after playing it for a few months, my clarinet teacher had my barrel cut down 2mm because I consistantly played flat in the upper registers. That seemed to have cured my problem because I played in tune with other members of the orchestras and bands in which I played. The 22xxx Buffet clarinets (mine is 22515) were noted for playing in tune according to Ralph McLane.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Rob
Date: 2000-06-25 22:00
The barrel on my Buffet full boehm is 63mm, and I sometimes have to pull it out about 1mm. I was going to get a longer barrel, but the tenon that fits into the lower socket on the barrel is unusually long and so I would have to have custom barrel made, or a stock barrel custom fit. You may have a similar complication if you are not using the barrel that came with the clarinet or one that was specifically made for it. On my clarinet it is easy to tell that I am using the original barrel because, like the clarinet it is imprinted with "Buffet a Paris" and "Gastone Bini, Pisa" (the dealer's name, I think) all in the same cartouche,on all three pieces (it has a one-piece body)of the clarinet. Now, if I could only tell when it was made - it has no serial number.
So, good luck and check to make sure your barrel fits properly!
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Kevin L. Oviatt
Date: 2000-06-25 22:17
My 1967 FB plays in tune on low e flat then gets sharper as I ascend and that is with a 66 Mil. good luck
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Hiroshi
Date: 2000-06-26 02:05
Andrea's first question, I guess, was on what note we should tune. Everything in tune is very difficult for clarinets. If a wrong note is chosen,other notes becomes worse. Tom Ridenour's site has a good article on this.
http://home1.gte.net/klarinet/articles/tuningBb.htm
p.s.
1.My Selmer 10SII* designed A=42Hz has a 66.5mm barrel. I heard once from the Japanese sales representative that clarinet manufacturers design 442Hz and 440Hz ones.
separately not by only barrel length.
2.Somewhere in an article of Tom Ridenour's URL, there was a description that some kind of mouthpieces necessitate to change different length of barrels. I do not have detailed info on this matter.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
