 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: SonicManEXE
Date: 2018-04-03 21:07
Hello all,
I am playing alto clarinet in my band's concert where we are playing all of Lincolnshire Posy (version B of movement 3) as well as Jupiter from the Planets. It should go without saying that I need to be impeccably in tune, but I have a problem. I am using my school's Selmer Series 9 that is not in that great of condition, and all the upper stack notes (D/A, clarion B, altissimo C) are all extremely sharp. What can be done about bringing these pitches down without having to bend them down ridiculously?
Jared
Ft. Lauderdale & Tampa, FL
Post Edited (2018-04-05 07:39)
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Author: jdbassplayer
Date: 2018-04-03 21:15
Does your neck have a tuning slide? If not try pulling out at the mouthpiece. On my old Bundy I had to pull the mouthpiece out almost 3/16 of an inch. What note are you tuning to?
-Jdbassplayer.
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Author: Ken Lagace
Date: 2018-04-03 22:49
That kind of mis-tuning works well by making the top half of the horn longer.
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Author: kdk
Date: 2018-04-03 23:43
As Ken suggests, making the upper half of the instrument - pulling the neck and the mouthpiece - longer will affect the left hand more than the longer notes.
What mouthpiece are you using? Since it's a school instrument, is it in good condition? Is the inside clean or (without an intent to be gross) crusted with years of mineral deposits? Have you experimented with a softer reed?
What is the possibility of having a tech check the instrument and see if something can be done to improve it? Since you're using it free of charge, it may need to be at your own expense. From personal experience, I would say playing on most school-owned alto clarinets is almost guaranteed to be an exercise in futility unless the band director's budget allows for a trip to the repair shop or you're willing to put a little out-of-pocket change into experimenting yourself. They're almost never maintained.
Karl
Post Edited (2018-04-03 23:44)
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Author: SonicManEXE
Date: 2018-04-05 07:39
The mouthpiece that is with it is actually a C** (I had no idea that was a real thing, but that's what it says on it). I am playing on Rico Royal 3s. I would have gotten 3.5s but I didn't want to go too hard, I think the 3s are actually a pretty good strength anyway.
I am at a university where I am fortunate enough to be able to get school instruments sent off to a local repairman and back in a normal amount of time. The problem is that I don't have enough of a time span where I don't need to be playing it to get it sent off, and it actually was just repaired a few weeks ago and is in much better working order than it was before. I will try lengthening the neck (yes, it the neck does have a tuning slide); the only thing I'm worried about is that the lower notes (especially F, E and Eb) are already 15-20 cents flat.
Jared
Ft. Lauderdale & Tampa, FL
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Author: zhangray4
Date: 2018-04-05 08:26
If you are concerned about throat F and E being really flat, try adding the C#/G# key. I'm assuming that won't raise the pitch enough, so try adding the side Eb key. Experiment with which fingering is best to sharpen them. I have the same problem on my clarinet, and I find that easier than lipping down the left hand A, Bb, B and C down.
-- Ray Zhang
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Author: kdk
Date: 2018-04-05 16:48
SonicManEXE wrote:
> I am at a university where I am fortunate enough to be able to
> get school instruments sent off to a local repairman and back
> in a normal amount of time.
If he's local, won't he let you make an appointment and sit down with him while he checks to see what he can find? Without wasting the time needed to send it out to him?
If he can't find an explanation, then you'd have to go on to the next steps, but he ought to be able to diagnose a problem, if there is one, in a half hour or less. Fixing it might take too long for your time constraints, but at least you'd know a cause and maybe could Gerry-rig a temporary solution.
Karl
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