 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: Andy Suplee
Date: 2000-02-28 02:27
Hi all,
About a year (or so) ago, I bought a new Vandoren Profile 88
mouthpiece (I think it's a B45 model) for my Buffet R-13. Ever since I got it, I can never seem to get the pitch quite high enough. I play with the contemporary music group at the
local church, and everyone in the group tunes to the grand piano which is at A440. The mouthpiece is supposed to be for those clarinetists tuning specifically to A440, but I'm striking out. I e-mailed Vandoren and their first suggestion was a shorter barrel, which I'm certainly NOT eager to do on this clarinet.
Any thoughts, ideas, or suggestions you might have would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Andy Suplee
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Dee
Date: 2000-02-28 03:54
It's not uncommon for people to get a different barrel for their pro clarinets. However here are some other things to check.
1. Breath support. The air needs to be high pressure regardless of whether you are playing loud or soft. Poor support leads to flatness. You were used to a certain amount of support for your old combination and that may not be enough for this one. Long tone practice will help here.
2. Is the reed matched to the mouthpiece? If too soft, you may tend to be flat in the upper part of the clarion register and in the altissimo register. Don't go too hard or the lower register gets "breathy" sounding.
3. How about your embouchure? Is it well developed? You may need more development work and practice of long tones to build the embouchure to the requirements of this combination.
4. Try thinking an "ee" sound. This may help bring you up to pitch.
5. Get a tuner and check against it. This will help you monitor your progress. Or you may find you are in tune while the piano is actually higher than the 440 it is stated to be.
6. Is the church room chronically cool? If so, wind instruments go flat and you might need to get a shorter barrel for that reason. I find that I will go flat in any room cooler than 70 degrees and I have no room left to "push in" on the barrel.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Dee
Date: 2000-02-28 04:00
Forgot one thing you can do. The angle you hold the clarinet can affect the pitch. 30 degrees out from the body is considered typical. If you are flat, pull it in closer to your body (smaller angle). If sharp, push it out from the body (i.e. bigger angle). If you aren't too far out to start with, this will often do the trick.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Chris Hill
Date: 2000-02-28 05:00
You mentioned that the mouthpiece is meant for those tuning to A 440, which would make it one from the 13 series (M13, V13, etc.) If it is an M13, then you need to make sure that the reed is hard enough, due to the close facing. For example, on a B45, a
# 3 1/2 reed works for me, whereas on an M13, a
# 4 1/2 is what I prefer. On a B45 13, I might need a # 3. I prefer pretty close facings, myself.
Chris
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Alphie
Date: 2000-02-28 11:11
Andy!
Isn't it a B40 Profile 88?
Mouthpiece and barrel always go together, the so called "action". If you find a MP that you want to stick to, you have to be prepared to ajust the barrel if the tuning isn't allright. There isn't much else to do other than temporary solutions like putting stuff inside the MP and such and than you might ruin other qualitys like the ones that was the reason why you baught it in the first place. Or, try a similar MP. It's always good to have a couple barrels of different lenghth and shapes in the drawer just in case. I have a couple Chadach- Pyne- and Moennig-barrels that I swich around with. 3-4 of each. Mark will soon be on this topic and he has a lot of addresses to people who make custom-made barrels for every situation.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Don Berger
Date: 2000-02-28 17:18
Are you absolutly certain the piano is tuned to 440? I nearly always find I must use my short LeBlanc barrel completely "pushed in", which should be about 442-4, to be in tune with a [nominally 440] piano. No one likes to be flat, pity the oboist!! Don
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Don Berger
Date: 2000-02-28 17:36
Paul's comments in the thread below "Sharp MP" are well worth your consideration. They speak to both of our regular tuning problems. Don
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Lelia
Date: 2000-02-28 20:48
Don Berger wrote:
-------------------------------
Are you absolutly certain the piano is tuned to 440? I nearly always find I must use my short LeBlanc barrel completely "pushed in", which should be about 442-4, to be in tune with a [nominally 440] piano. No one likes to be flat, pity the oboist!! Don
------------
I think Don's onto something here. If the piano is a Steinway, it's probably factory tuned to a=442. Piano tuners often scoot it up to a=444, if it's used for solo playing or for sonatas with a violinist.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Andy Suplee
Date: 2000-02-29 02:02
Well, I certainly appreciate all of your thoughts and suggestions. I'm definitely not getting enough practice time (three daughters, and certifications required for work are chewing up a lot of time), but I'll try and squeeze in some more. My support is not where it should be and the only cure for that is practice (a little exercise wouldn't hurt, either).
As for the piano, I'll check that at our next rehearsal (at the risk of tromping on sensitive toes...too bad). I'm also going to replace my reeds. I've been playing on 2 1/2 to 3's and the 3's are pretty worn out. Hopefully, this will at least take care of some of the problem. I've played on Vandoren reeds for years with very good results, so I'll stick with what I know.
When I have some results, I'll let you all know.
Thanks again for the help!
Andy Suplee
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: sylvan selig
Date: 2000-02-29 16:51
Assuming all others factors have been examined, buy a new barrel. The only other factor to look at would be, "is this really the mouthpiece for you?" I've seen alot of players trying to play the m/p they would like to play, instead of the m/p they should be playing. Maybe this one just isn't for you?
-ss-
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: paul
Date: 2000-02-29 18:56
Try the cheap and quick fixes first. Many folks can pinch their embouchure and go sharp pretty quick. That's a controlled and very slight pinch, so be careful. Good air support helps in countless ways for intonation and tone generation. We can't say enough good things about how much this helps. Harder reeds are a help. A shorter barrel can help. A different mp can help. Arguing with the pianist may not help. Getting the very expensive piano retuned for your needs probably doesn't stand a chance of happening (see the Chord thread below for the reasons behind this statement).
The point is that you need to be flexible to meet the needs of the ensemble. As an adult novice with a very good horn and lots of goodies on the side, I'd personally take a short cut and reach for my A=442 barrel and a mp with a more close cut if I happen to have it available (a 5RVLyre vs a B45, etc.). Ditto for slightly harder (and thoroughly broken in) reeds for the different mp. These are shortcuts, of course. The better way is to learn how to bend up or down notes to fit and use the rig (mp on down to bell) that you always play. The "catch" is that this better solution takes a lot more experience and expertise to learn and get right for the conditions. I guess that is one of the many differences between amateurs and pros in this business.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
