 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Iacuras
Date: 2004-08-27 18:40
I just bought a brand new Vito 7166 bass clarinet and am having trouble getting a good response when playing the middle B (right above the break). I don't think it's the pad, because i get good response on low E. Any ideas? Thanks in advance.
Steve
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2004-08-27 19:32
Your instrument has a single register vent mechanism in which only one small vent covers the entire clarion register --- adequate for soprano clarinets but inadequate for larger instruments (even the smaller saxophones have two vents). Sad to say there's very little that can be done to improve it more than marginally --- it's a design deficiency of nearly all Leblanc harmony clarinets. You'll notice that the better Buffet, Selmer, Yamaha, Amati and the new Ridenour low-C bass clarinets all have what's called "double automatic register vents" in which a larger, lower vent opens from clarion 'long' B through Eb, then the release of a linkage coming up from the r.h. ring finger key all the way to the top of the instrument causes a second, smaller/higher vent (generally on the neck, except for some basses like my Kohlerts where it's at the very top of the upper body joint) to open from clarion E through high C.
A slight reduction of the opening height of your register pad might help a bit, but not much. Sorry for the bad news!
I had (and fought) a Vito bass through high school, and a basically identical Noblet through college, and survived. But you'd be better off with a different instrument if you can afford one.
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2004-08-28 05:28
Well put, David.
Steve, if there is a problem with low pads not closing very well, this will show up a lot more for B over-the-break than it does for low E. This MAY be a contributing factor. For diagnosis, get somebody else to hold those two keys firmly shut while you play.
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