 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Keil
Date: 2000-02-20 20:03
where can i send my Buffet to get tweaked? roughly for how much? what do they do?
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2000-02-20 20:14
Keil,
I wouldn't worry about it yet - it's expensive, and you're just starting out. Just make sure your clarinet is in basically fine shape. Don't spend money on those things that you're not ready for yet.
My son's in a top conservatory right now majoring in clarinet. He's playing pretty much stock Buffets. So far he's just had the tenon corks replaced after an initial fine tuning. He plays 3-6 hours every day, and has been doing that on the same clarinets for 3 years. Total maintenance costs so far - less than $50.00 . Just keep your clarinet dry & clean.
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Author: Dee
Date: 2000-02-20 20:39
Keil,
It sounds like you are a talented individual whose early development was unusually rapid. Now you have it a temporary plateau and it is, no doubt, frustrating for you. I experienced much the same thing myself. Your progress slows down and it feels like you're not getting anywhere. Just keep plugging away at the studies and you will improve though perhaps not as rapidly as you had before.
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Author: Keil
Date: 2000-02-20 22:19
i agree with you dee and i think that my frustrations do stem from my lack of tangible evidence of musical growth at this time! Oh well, i guess i will keep on keepin' on.
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Author: Willie
Date: 2000-02-21 00:51
I think Dee has hit the nail on the head. This happens to a lot of older adult and "born again" clarinetist as they know what they want and just can't acheive it fast enough. file me in this catagory also, I'm guilty too.
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Author: Willie
Date: 2000-02-21 00:57
I'd also like to add that the hole in the bell may affect the tuning of the other straight tube note, B1, and since this note is plated far more than low E, its tuning takes presidence.
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Author: steve
Date: 2000-02-21 20:32
again, Dee is right (what eles is new?)....
however, tweaking for some folks who have played for many years on a professional level does help feel and sound and intonation...the most famous tweaker was Moenning in philly....he has some former apprentices out there...search for moenning on klarinet archives....well known tweakers today are brannen of chicago, Muncy of NC, Ridenour in TX and Bay in Calif, and Jacobi in philly...that being said, the best tweaking results (imho) occur north of the mp, starting at the embrochure...
s.
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2000-02-22 19:25
Keil wrote:
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where can i send my Buffet to get tweaked? roughly for how much? what do they do?
Keil -
There's all levels of tweaking. Right now, as everyone says, you probably don't need anything elaborate. The only exception is to make sure all the pads are covering tight.
Remember that things decrease in importance as you go from one "piece" to the next. You begin inside yourself with the airstream. Then come your throat, soft palate, tongue and lips, all in combination with your ears. Only then do you get to the reed, the mouthpiece and the barrel. The subtle shaping of the bore, the tone hole undercutting and adjustments to the bell make a big difference to advanced players, but only because they have everything else under control.
Proof? When your teacher plays on your setup, he/she sounds much better than you do, right?
So your first priority is breath, and then embouchure development. That and basic reed adjusting will take you far. Unless your mouthpiece gets damaged, or is really dreadful (and your teacher will know that), you should replace your mouthpiece only after one and one-half or two years, with a Fobes, Hite or Ridenour student model. The rest needs to wait until you're really pretty advanced, so that you can tell what works for you. The advanced tweaking is 90% individualized.
How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Well, you practice, and you practice, and you practice....
Ken Shaw
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Author: paul
Date: 2000-02-22 22:21
Keeping in mind all of the postings above, I'll swim against the stream here and propose that sometimes a horn (especially a brand new one) needs some tweaking (called "regulation"). A very good pro tutor or pro woodwind tech can help guide you on the proper path, or better yet as in my case, my tutor did it himself during my lessons. Making sure the keypads are opening and closing enough, making sure the key mechanisms are working exactly as they should, making sure the throat A and G keys and the register key open enough but not too much are all good things to check, especially on a brand new horn. Adjusting some of the keys (especially the C#/G# key) for individual fingers is also part of the process. After your horn is regulated, it should play with correct intonation on almost every note, it will fit your hands very well, and it probably will have a better tone, too.
Simple regulation shouldn't cost very much if at all. All you have to do to keep the horn in regulation is to take care of it to not bend any of the keys and to make sure it's cleaned after every session. As for getting the horn sent to a customizer to essentially overhaul it into an almost different horn, I agree with the postings above. Few if any folks I know of will be able to get the maximum performance out of such a highly adjusted horn. Save the money you would pay for this service for private lessons. In the end, I believe lessons are a much better value because 90% or more of the horn's capability rests with the player.
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