Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2003-03-26 10:23
"you know, an adjusting screw on the linkage is really quite a practical idea, and it shouldn't really be so hard to find a way to make it NOT make noise or tear up whatever it's going to connect with...."
Yes. The adjusting and linkage silencing functions can be separated.
Method 1. The screw presses against a small springy metal plate, which in turn is covered with silencing material where it touches the other key. I've never seen this on clarinet but the concept is reasonably common on oboes and whisper keys of bassoons, in locations that involve linkages but not instrument disassembly. It would be tricky to design for this bridge particular location of a clarinet, and probably impractical to make.
Method 2. The A/D key is hinged not with point screws at each end, but with a hinge tube hinging on a steel shaft. This tube is cut through, say 15 mm from the lower post, and tabs fixed to each tube at the cut, such that an adjusting screw mounted on the lower part operates the upper part (with the pad and ring key on it) via the tab on the upper part.
At least one clarinet maker uses this. Howarth maybe.
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