 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: larryb
Date: 2005-04-04 03:51
Spotted at Steinway Hall Selmer Day this afternoon: Todd Levy attached what appeared to be a tuner to his bell. What kind of tuner is that, and is it meant to be kept on the bell to allow for continuous tuning checks during performance? (Levy removed it before playing)
By the way, Cavallini Grand Duets - music only a clarinetist could love...
I'll leave it to someone else to provide a full report (was that you Ken Shaw taking notes?) - some beautiful playing all around; nice horns.
Post Edited (2005-04-04 03:54)
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Author: VermontJM
Date: 2005-04-04 07:46
there is a tuner out there that reads vibrations instead of sound- I have been thinking about getting one... many string players use them- you can clip them onto just about anything (as long as it vibrates) and it picks up the vibrations and tells you if you are in tune. I think it's a good way to discretely check the tuning of notes you may wonder about. (Sometimes on Eb sop, the pitch is so far off, I can't tell which way I am, or if it's just the piccolo that's way out... )
You are not meant to keep it on forever- I think that tuning to a tuner once an ensemble has begun is bogus anyway- I don't play with any ensemble that consistantly stays at 440- at some point, you have to rely on your ear.
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Author: Liquorice
Date: 2005-04-04 08:08
Harpists use a little pick-up that can be plugged nto most tuners. I've seen clarientists use them as well. It becomes easier to check your own tuning when the rest of the orchestra is warming up with their concertos!
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2005-04-04 12:11
It's a pickup made by Petersontuners.com - the TP-1 is what it is if you want to connect a pickup to your current tuner (it uses a microphone/headphone sized jack)
They are under $10.
I checked out the tuner which has the pickup integrated into the tuner and the sound generator is really weak. I don't want a tuner which doesn't have a clear strong sound as we should be tuning with our ears, not the eyes.
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Author: Don Poulsen
Date: 2005-04-04 15:49
I have one of the clip-on vibration pickups. I had seen another bass clarinetist with one and decided it was a good idea because, when in a room with other instrumentalists warming up, a tuner's microphone won't hone in on my instrument alone.
By the way, this other bass clarinetist keeps her on during rehearsals and performances, but I would think that wouldn't be a great idea, because you need to conform with the tuning of the ensemble, which as I understand, may vary, not to a tuner. (Dave Blumberg's last comment seems to be along this line as well.)
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Author: Clarinetgirl06
Date: 2005-04-04 18:57
I played in an orchestra for a mass church Easter Cantata and I sat next to the oboe player. She owned one of these tuners and let me borrow it too. It can hook up to any tuner and you just clip it on the bell. You can tune while everyone else is tuning, but it will only pick up you. I think that for the price, it would be a nice gadget to have around. But, just keep it on for tuning or to see how your instruments overall pitches are in tune. I agree with what David says. I found it very useful, especially since I am in high school and am still learning the whole concept of intonation. Maybe it would be good for a teacher to have around to help teach their students?
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Author: larryb
Date: 2005-04-04 19:16
doesn't seem like anything you guys are describing - it wasn't a pick-up that connected to anything. it was a grey disk (with an orange face) that clipped directly to the bell. nothing else.
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Author: Clarinetgirl06
Date: 2005-04-04 19:26
If it was just a gray disc, then how could he tell if he was in tune?Would he have to look down at it, in an awkward manner (which, IMO would be tacky)? So no cord or anything? That's weird, I'll have to look into it!
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Author: larryb
Date: 2005-04-04 19:39
Yes - he seemed to look down at it. It didn't appear tacky, and he removed the tuner before playing (if indeed it was a tuner - I don't know). Thanks for looking into it Clarinetgirl106! Look forward to your report on your findings.
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2005-04-04 20:01
larryb -
I was the one taking notes. You should have introduced yorself.
Before the second recital (downstairs), Todd Levy went up to the piano, held the orange disk inside it and played an A. I think it was an adjustable tuner, which he set to the piano's A and then took it to a back room to pull the joints out just right.
The Cavallini is one of those things that's been in my head forever. Years ago, I taped the second part so I cold play along with myself.
I'll write up my notes in the next few days.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2005-04-05 01:21
You've got to be a bit careful with using tuners as a definitive check on your every note.
First, they almost certainly have a tempered scale, whereas good non-keyboard players with keen ears will tend to adjust their notes to a 'true' scale, with different tuning.
Second, our ears are used to hearing stretched octaves, perhaps because a good compromise for tuning pianos incorporates this - perhaps because of the mechanics of the ear itself. A theoretically correct pitch for a note in the piccolo range may actually sound quite flat.
The astute player adjusts tuning to a best compromise for every situation, perhaps note by note at times, and this is very dependent on which other instruments are playing. For example it is no good a piccolo player playing a note pleasing to the ear's sense of pitch if this creates severe beat frequencies with notes a trumpet player is playing an octave or two lower.
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