 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Allinea
Date: 2013-01-04 02:13
As of the past month, I've noticed I'm playing a good 10 cents flat when I start practicing/tuning. Originally I have had to pull the barrel and center out a bit to compensate for being sharp. This is my sixth year of playing, so I don't think it would be because I'm a "beginner". Over the summer, I played with a band in Japan and had to use 3 1/2 reeds because nothing else was available and was a bit sharp, and have since completely moved to 3 1/2's from the 3's I used last year. At the beginning of the school year I was slightly sharp again, and completed a tuning assignment (pitch matching) wherein I figured out how to fix that (pulling the barrel/middle out, shading, etc). I'm now having to push the barrel/middle all the way in.
I know this fixes the problem, but I'm more curious as to what caused this. May it be a bad box of reeds (I think my flatness coincides with my latest box), or my embouchure going wonky (I've got braces, but I've had them for way longer than this has been going on)?
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Author: Wes
Date: 2013-01-04 02:33
In winter in Minnesota, the average temperature is lower and clarinets tend to be lower in pitch. Don't be afraid to play with all the joints pushed in as that is normal for groups that play pretty much in tune in moderate climates.
Be sure to have a firm (not pinching) embouchure to keep the pitch up.
The cold air in the clarinet is what causes a lower pitch. It takes a very long time of continuous playing, at least 15 minutes, to warm the body of the clarinet to maintain warm air in it.
In my opinion, if you have to pull out the center joint often, either the group has a tuning problem or your clarinet is too high in pitch. With a good R13 in a normal group, it should not be necessary to ever pull out the center joint.
You may wish to carry a 64mm barrel in your case as an alternate for the normal 66mm barrel for those situations where it is very cold. Maybe even carry a Bundy clarinet if it gets too cold, to keep from cracking your R13.
Yes, I studied and played the clarinet for ten years in Minnesota, in the U of M orchestras and bands, mostly. Good luck!
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Author: kdk
Date: 2013-01-04 02:45
You've changed reed strength, you've started pulling the middle tenon out, you've made some kind of voicing change ("shading") and maybe changed other things you haven't remembered to mention. It sounds as though you went too far in dealing with the sharpness but changed too many things to be know where the over-reaction occurred.
For my money, if you suddenly started playing sharp because of the move up to 3-1/2 reeds, I'd see if going all the way back to your original strength brings your pitch back in line. Then, if there's something about the sound or the response of the softer reeds that you don't like, start experimenting with other reeds to try to improve things without affecting your pitch. If a harder reed is forcing your pitch up enough to be a problem, you should consider that it's too hard for your mouthpiece.
Not that it will provide a firm answer to where your pitch problems lie, but what mouthpiece are you using and what brand/model are the 3-1/2s?
Karl
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Author: Bob Phillips
Date: 2013-01-04 05:05
My experience with Buffet R13s and an RC is that it is normal to pull the center joint. My RC is more comfortable to play with the center joint pulled about 2-mm. That helps the intonation of E5 and F5. (Of course, it worsens the flat F3.
Bob Phillips
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2013-01-04 09:05
To add to the mix, I have found sometimes that I "settle in" to a mouthpiece at some point and the pitch seems to "settle" with it (perhaps the barrel length equivalent of a millimeter or two). I would also add that I insist on having lee way in pitch (always, always have the barrel pulled out at least 2mm). I do this because if you ever find yourself pushed in ALL THE WAY and are still struggling to get up to pitch then you are.....TOO FLAT.
..............Paul Aviles
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Author: kdk
Date: 2013-01-04 13:19
Allinea wrote:
> I'm now having to push the barrel/middle all the
> way in.
>
Re-reading your original post, I realize I misunderstood this last sentence. So, you've apparently readjusted your oral cavity ("voicing," "shading") and perhaps other aspects of your embouchure and gotten the pitch back down to a point where pulling out the barrel and middle tenon is no longer necessary. If the sound and control you're getting with your new approach are good, then you've solved the problem.
> I know this fixes the problem, but I'm more curious as to what caused
> this. May it be a bad box of reeds (I think my flatness coincides with my
> latest box), or my embouchure going wonky (I've got braces, but I've had
> them for way longer than this has been going on)?
Stiffer reeds *can* cause sharper pitch, just as too soft reeds can cause the pitch to sag. The best way to answer a question about whether "bad" reeds could cause this or that problem would be to open a fresh box and see if the problem (or in this case, the solution) goes away. Your #3s may have been too soft to begin with and you may have actually been pinching to keep them up to pitch, so that the same approach to the harder reeds had a sharper result. Of course, if the next box of reeds pushes your pitch back up, I'd re-submit my earlier advice to go back to what was working and move from there rather than trying to go backward in smaller steps.
As far as an embouchure gone "wonky" goes, you would normally adjust things over a short period of time to get back to a comfort zone. Maybe that's just what happened as a result of the switch to #3-1/2s. The important thing is whether or not the result you're now getting with them is consistent, comfortable and under control (good) or forced and tension-producing (go back to #3s and start over).
I don't see why your braces would have suddenly become an issue if they hadn't been before, although in my experience with students (I never had braces myself), you'll find nearly everything about playing the clarinet easier once the braces are off.
Karl
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Author: MSK
Date: 2013-01-05 02:20
Earlier this fall, I had a similar problem. Sorry but I don't know how to post the link, but it should turn up in a search. There were some suggestions that might help you also. One thing that helped me to determine whether it was me or the instrument was trying my mouthpiece/reed/ligature on other clarinets and having other clarinet players try my instrument.
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