 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: music_is_life
Date: 2005-02-28 01:01
I know throat tones can be horrible on the clarinet- mine get this buzzing kind of sound when I play them (A-Bb) and tend to be quite sharp. I was just wondering, besides resonance fingerings, is there a way to improve the sound quality of these notes? should I take it to a tech to fix? because my Bb, especially buzzes- it doesn't have a nice clear tone- it buzzes more than most people I hear.
-Lindsie
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Author: Ralph G
Date: 2005-02-28 02:28
Have you checked the register tube? Remove the key and clean out the opening with a pipe cleaner. Could be some crud up there that's giving you a buzz.
Make sure the register key isn't opening too wide. Give it the nickle test -- open the key and try to slide a nickle into the gap. Much larger than that, you risk the tone being way off.
________________
Artistic talent is a gift from God and whoever discovers it in himself has a certain obligation: to know that he cannot waste this talent, but must develop it.
- Pope John Paul II
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Author: Mike Clarinet
Date: 2005-02-28 12:27
Can one of our American friends tell the rest of us how thick a nickle is so we can substitute local currency? :-)
If your throat notes are still sharp after checking the tube is clear and the speaker key is in the right place, try putting your right hand down as if you were playing low F. If this is too flat, lift a finger or two at the bottom of the instrument. You may need to experiment a bit to find what works. This may correct sharpness (or it may not - it seems to vary from instrument to instrument), although it will do nothing for tone quality.
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Author: music_is_life
Date: 2005-02-28 12:45
should I do this myself? I have taken the keys off of my upper section before, but never the register key... I suppose I cant ruin it though. Just have to find my screw driver!
a pipe cleaner? are those the things that little kids play with in art class, and they come in different colors...and they're pretty much metal that bends, with little fabric "hairs" coming off it? if not, I have no idea what a pipe cleaner is!
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Author: Ralph G
Date: 2005-02-28 13:17
That indeed sounds like a pipe cleaner.
And a nickle is 1.95 mm thick.
________________
Artistic talent is a gift from God and whoever discovers it in himself has a certain obligation: to know that he cannot waste this talent, but must develop it.
- Pope John Paul II
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Author: hans
Date: 2005-02-28 15:29
I use a straight mascara brush for cleaning tone holes. Avoid using anything with exposed sharp metal that could scratch the bore.
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Author: music_is_life
Date: 2005-02-28 15:35
hans wrote:
> I use a straight mascara brush for cleaning tone holes.
I hope you clean it first
I could nver do that because I just feel like they are so clogged with makeup that they'll never be 100% clean...
> Avoid using
>anything with exposed sharp metal that could scratch the bore.
That's what I originally thought when I saw the word pipe cleaner...
anything else besides makeup tools and art supplies?
-Lindsie
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Author: Brenda
Date: 2005-02-28 15:58
Anything else besides craft supplies and makeup tools? (BTW brand new, clean mascara brushes are available.) Probably, but more expensive, too. Why not just bend over the end of the pipe cleaner with pliers if you think the tip is sharp? Or use a Q-tip. It's not too often that you need to invest in expensive products - except for acceptable bore oil and a good repair professional!
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2005-02-28 22:17
MIL, in answer to a few of the Q's you asked,
I tear a little cotton from the toothpick until it's tight, but not impossible to get through. Either that or I would bend a pipe cleaner in half so that it's (A) thicker and (B) not a sharp POINT but a rounded top.
Taking the register key off won't be dificult. Nor is it dificult to put back on. Have no fear about that!
Also, if the register key is cork, look and see if it looks like a cone. With the widest part where it attaches to the key cup and the narrowest part where it touches the register tone hole. Sort of a "volcano" shape. Often, corks are shaped in this method to help the air vent around it. I've heard it helps a lot (haven't done the tests myself, but it seems to work on mine).
Pipe cleaners are originally (of course) for cleaning tobacco pipes. I have a pipe (don't use it anymore) and it fits perfectly into it. You can buy them at tobacco shops (if you can find any . . . most cigar shops will sell them as well as pipe tobacco), or probably art supply stores. And yes, your description of "the things that little kids play with in art class, and they come in different colors...and they're pretty much metal that bends, with little fabric "hairs" coming off it" is pretty much SPOT ON!
Other causes could be a mouthpiece, or just the design of this particular instrument (don't know if GBK touched it already or not, but sometimes the register tube is SLIGHTLY too long, and this causes a bad throat Bb).
If your main instrument is a buffet R13, there is a mechanism by Galper (I think that's how the name is pronounced). Basically a replacement register tube that's supposed to work well. Might wanna do a search on that for some info (if it is indeed an R13)
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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