 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Dan Shusta
Date: 2005-02-15 23:32
While I was cruising the web for "clarinet patents", I came upon the following "New E/B free hole" in the L.A. Ripamonti "FR" Italian clarinet and thought I might share it with all of you:
http://www.laripamonti.com/instruments.html
You might also want to look at their synthetic and silver/gold "legatures" in the following Ripamonti link:
http://www.laripamonti.com/patents.html
I'm not sure if their new patented "free hole" and "legatures" are really an improvement, but I found it interesting to look at them.
Anybody ready to drill a new hole in their R13?
Post Edited (2005-02-15 23:44)
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2005-02-15 23:46
I've seen that on the ripamonti site and have pondered and pondered and pondered where the heck that hole is and why it is considered "free". Can you (or anyone else) tell from the picture?
Is it a venting hole on the lowest joint for the low E?
US Army Japan Band
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2005-02-15 23:47
Never mind. NOW is the time my brain managed to notice the hand pointing to the free hole on the lowest joint.
US Army Japan Band
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Author: John Stackpole
Date: 2005-02-16 00:10
As an amateur, I'll bet the hole is "free" because there is no key-cover for it. It just stays open.
I sort of remember reading exchanges (here?) where brave souls described drilling holes in the bell to accomplish the same end. I suppose a mistake could get a bit expensive.
Question: is there anything wrong (other than "purity" or esthetics) with sticking "any old bell" on an R-13, say. A plastic one, say, after you had ruined the R-13 bell drilling spurious holes in it? (I'm not going to find out on mine, that's for sure.)
JDS
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2005-02-16 00:17
John,
My amati has TWO resonance holes drilled in the bell (done by Graham Golden). They work just fine.
As to the "purity" question, I doubt it. S'long as it fits and stays in tune, if you're not worried about being pure, then just go with what works. I'd have to say my amati clarinet is the most cosmetically "unpure" clarinet I own (or have ever seen!). Greg smith mouthpiece (made for optimization with R13 and chadash barrel), on a Bartolai barrel (WHAT barrel? haha! I can't even REMEMBER what kind of wood it is, suffice to say it's not any of the popular types), attached to an amati clarinet made out of amati, with brown leather pads installed by David Spiegelthal, and a bell that is amati issue, but made out of cocobolo (with two resonance holes).
The veritable "Frankenstein" of clarinets. But playing-wise, better than most 'professional' clarinets I've tried (whether at a music store or playing a colleagues)
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
Post Edited (2005-02-16 13:13)
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Author: John Stackpole
Date: 2005-02-16 00:23
And I'll bet you have 12 fingers (per hand), too, and that was an additional customization...
More serious: If you were to temporarilly plug those bell holes, what sound / tone/ timbre / pitch / &c. difference would you hear?
JDS
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Author: Contra
Date: 2005-02-16 00:25
I'd hate to criticize someone's inability to draw hands, especially when I think of my own attempts, but that legature picture has some sick-looking hands.
Frankenstein of clarinets reminds me of my marching clarinet. I dubbed it Frankenclarinet since it was made of two seperate Vitos, a Click barrel, and a Buffet Band Masters mouthpiece. It truly is better than the sum of its parts.
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2005-02-16 00:42
John,
If I plugged it it'd sound pretty much the same, however with the low F/E and the long B being slightly flat.
Contra,
I think you may have beat me. Maybe not in QUANTITY of clarinets, but mismatched joints . . . now THAT'S quality!
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: pzaur
Date: 2005-02-16 05:19
I have a vague memory of some strange phase were band teachers were drilling holes here and there on clarinets for "resonance reasons." Maybe the bug is coming back!
Did anyone notice the extra pinky key on the saxophone? Any ideas what it's used for? It's for the right hand pinky.
http://www.laripamonti.com/patents.html
sfalexi -
You mentioned that you use a barrel of Amati issue with 2 resonance holes. Or did I read this wrong? Just confused...My logic side of my brain is going as fast as the hamsters can move trying to figure out how a barrel with holes would work!?
-pat
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Author: donald
Date: 2005-02-16 09:02
i mentioned this (the "free hole" inovation, we must excuse the Italians if their english sounds a bit clumsy, ok?) in a post some years ago- essentially it is the same as if there was a low E flat key, but it remained uncovered. What this does is make the tone of the E/B match the F/C much more closely by adding a cylindrical tube portion to resonate the sound, and it seems to work reasonably well.
if you want to find out what this may be like, find a full Boehm clarinet with the low E flat key, and take the key off.
on the other hand, it makes the clarinet weigh more which may not be considered an advantage.
donald
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2005-02-16 13:14
Yes. I meant bell. I fixed it above to avoid future confusion. Sorry bout that.
US Army Japan Band
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Author: jez
Date: 2005-02-17 10:03
The idea is that all the notes on a clarinet come out of tone holes except bottom E/middle B. Extending the bore by one semitone and adding the extra hole which is never covered means there are no 'bell-notes' and keeps the sound more consistent.
It's hardly a new idea. Doesn't the new Buffet bass have the same thing? Or further back isn't the basset clarinet used by Stadler supposed to have had it? It does according to Fox's reconstruction.
There is very little that's 'new' in instrument design
jez
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Author: Aussie Nick
Date: 2005-02-19 03:09
Can someone clarify for me what exactly this hole will do to pitch of those notes?
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Author: donald
Date: 2005-02-19 17:58
for every note on your clarinet except E/B the bore leads to the lowest open tone hole, and the note is vented through a tone hole (with or without a pad/key over it)..... every other note also has a bit of bore below the open tone hole that adds resonance and has an effect on what is called "end effect"- where vibrations in the tube extend down past the open hole......
E and B DONT have this- they are vented by the Bell
ok- does that make sense?
NOW- all that the Ripamonti people have done is add a bit of bore and an open hole .... below the E/B hole..... so that E/B now vent through a hole, not through the bell. Got that? This makes the tone of the notes E/B more uniform with the rest of the clarinet (i think it has more effect on the B)
.....now, on any other note of your clarinet if the hole is bigger the note is sharper and if the hole is made smaller then the note will be flatter. The same would apply to this "free hole"
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