 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Doug
Date: 2000-03-31 20:55
I hav an old LeBlanc Paris'Symphonie' Model, serial #195A
that plays beautifully but is very sharp. I have to pull out the barrel ovet 1/4 inch and the mid section 1/8 inch to make A440. I have tried putting the barrel from my Selmer on it which is longer but still have to pull out almost 1/4 inch but then the intonation is terrible. Reckon this instrument is A444 or higher? Any one have any suggestions as to how to get it in tune other than moving to Europe?
Thanks, Doug
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Author: ron b.
Date: 2000-03-31 22:09
If it's a really nice sounding horn you might consider linking up with a string ensemble. They can tune up to you.
r. b.
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Author: Dee
Date: 2000-03-31 23:18
Try a different mouthpiece. This can make a significant tuning difference. I had a Bundy Eb soprano that was 50 cents sharp on my tuner until I replaced the stock mouthpiece with a semi-pro level mouthpiece.
For my Bb, I have a Leblanc Symphonie II that plays nicely in tune with either a Vandoren B45 or Vandoren 5RV mouthpiece. I use Vandoren 3.5 strength reeds on these mouthpieces. This works fairly well for me. I have noticed that if I try harder reeds, I go very sharp so if you are using very stiff reeds, you might want to try something a little softer.
If your instrument was intended for import to this country, it should have been built to the A=440 standard so there would seem to be some other factor at work here.
Are you playing in a very warm room? The A=440 standard actually is for a given room air temperature. Right off hand, I can't remember if that is 68°F or 72°F. Playing in a hotter room will send you sharp. In addition, they are designed to be pulled under normal conditions (though not as much as you seem to indicate) so that you have room to push in to get up to pitch for cold rooms.
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2000-04-01 00:54
Doug - You might read [below] Greg Smith's comments under Hawkins MP's etc, it could be a solution for you. Don
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Author: dad
Date: 2000-04-01 01:55
You could try one of the adjustable barrels.
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Author: Meredith H
Date: 2000-04-02 23:19
Being an older instrument isn't it likely that it was intended to play at a slightly higher pitch. I know older brass instruments had to have all of the tuning pipes extended to play modern pitch. However, I am not sure when A440 became the standard so I can't be entirely positive about this.
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Author: Dee
Date: 2000-04-03 03:13
A = 440 was officially adopted by an international congress in the early 1930s. It had been one of several of the unofficial standard pitches for at least thirty years before that.
It's likely though that some bands did not change for quite some time after that though.
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Author: Fred McKenzie
Date: 2000-04-03 21:56
Meredith H wrote:
-------------------------------
Being an older instrument isn't it likely that it was intended to play at a slightly higher pitch.
Meredith-
I have a Leblanc Bb Bass Clarinet that plays sharp. To use it at A=440, I have the neck pulled out as far as I can, and also pull out about 3/16" at the center joint.
Needless to say, it still has intonation problems. I recently wrote Leblanc to see when it was made, and they indicated it was from the mid-60s. They didn't say if it might have been made for some other country.
As a side issue, I have an old Selmer Clarinet sales flyer that advises that you sometimes need to pull out at the center, in order to compromise-tune some instruments. I suspect this is a vestige of the many old instruments (pre-1940s) that were made to a higher pitch.
This concept works if you are able to lip some of the notes to play in tune. Unfortunately, many of the old higher-pitched instruments had single-piece metal bodies that couldn't be adjusted this way. I think that is one of the major reasons metal instruments have such a bad reputation.
Fred
<A HREF="http://www.dreamnetstudios.com/music/mmb/index.htm">MMB</A>
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