The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: mw
Date: 2001-05-06 00:54
Query:
Why would someone have cut off the part of the side keys which we actually depress?
That is, in my situation, the entire key (almost) is there except that at the end the part which does the 90 degree angle has been cut down & filed off. leaving just the long rail left with a (just) slightly larger area (with no right angle.
This was done to the to the top 2 trill keys; the bottom 2 are un-touched. Confusing, but (it appears) it was done purposely.
Thanks for any info.
mw
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: jo
Date: 2001-05-06 01:55
Maybe the pad things (where your fingers hit) broke off and they filed it down so as to not cut themselves or to make it look like everything is whole.
There was a music shop in town here where I looked at clarinet and told the sales guy that the Eb/Bb key was broken. He said it was supposed to be like that. "No, no it isn't." I said...
*shrug* I dont' know why anyone would cut them on purpose.
Jo
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: mw
Date: 2001-05-06 03:13
Appreciate your response, but these were key alterations (removal of the 90 degree angle portion) were neatly & carefully taken off. I have already heard from one jazz player on the Klarinet List who said that he had a west coast friend who liked to play without the 90 degree turn. Again, the lower 2 keys are untouched.
[ you can still use the top trill keys but need to land pretty darn exactly! ]
(( The "alteration" makes measures 17 - 31 at Rose 32, Etude #20 a challenge ! ))
Interesting!
mw
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Jim
Date: 2001-05-06 04:12
As a young student (40 years ago!) my school provided teacher forbid the use of certain keys (including those two and most of the cross fingering keys) on the theory that we weren't ready for them. (My private teacher refered to them as Miss X's keys as he taught me to use them.) (Do you suppose Miss X could still be alive and reading this board?) Perhaps another teacher went one step further and chopped them off.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Wes
Date: 2001-05-07 07:17
Hi!
Sorry to hear about the keys. Any repairman who is competent in making keys and silver soldering can fix them so that they would be like new. Maybe this kind of repairman is not so easy to find but the job is not difficult. A jeweler could also do the job.
One could check with Selmer in Elkhart about the purchase of new keys, also.
Good Luck
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2001-05-07 11:46
And the job should take only 1/2 to one hour. Material charge negligible, even in sterling silver.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: mw
Date: 2001-05-12 23:23
The problem with the solder job, according to a wel-known tech, is that it would tend to look out of the ordinary (as it does now)! That said, I ordered the replacement keys from Selmer, Paris yesterday. <ouch>
ps I saw a full (new) Selmer 10 U/J on eBay not too long ago. I almost bid on it.
Obviously, I had no knowledge then that I would have a future need. Isn't that the way most things work in this life? <grin>
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2001-05-13 14:43
The solder reconstruction job SHOULD look like an original key.
Good luck with your replacements. I hope they fit. My experience with replacement keys is that they seldom fit. (Unless they are Yamaha) So I gave up getting replacements some time ago. They take too long to get to NZ anyway.... and if I order from Selmer I might (eventually) get 100 of the wrong key sent! Perhaps they DO fit better on more modern instruments.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
|