 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: JamesE
Date: 2006-04-21 20:14
I have a clarinet that is playing 10 to 15 cents flat pretty consistantly over the entire range. This instrument currently has a 66-mm barrel and I was thinking of getting a different barrel to see if that would help.
I am guessing a shorter barrel will bring the pitch up in general, and I am wondering if anyone can suggest how much of a change, say, a 65-mm barrel length would make.
As always, thanks for any comments or assistance.
Jim
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Author: nickma
Date: 2006-04-21 20:30
Go for a 64 or 64.5 mm barrel. Barrels can and should be pulled out slightly anyway as he notes sharpen with warm air.
Nick
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Author: David Peacham
Date: 2006-04-21 21:30
You might be better off changing mouthpiece rather than barrel. If the instrument is in tune with itself, a shorter barrel is likely to put it out of tune with itself. For reasons that I'm sure are obvious, a shorter barrel will affect the throat notes and upper clarion much more than the lower chalumeau and lower clarion.
But to answer your question, ten cents flat means that A=440 becomes roughly A=438. A 65mm barrel is just about enough to correct this. So I'd agree with Nick, 64mm is a better choice.
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If there are so many people on this board unwilling or unable to have a civil and balanced discussion about important issues, then I shan't bother to post here any more.
To the great relief of many of you, no doubt.
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Author: JamesE
Date: 2006-04-22 03:08
David,
Many thanks for your suggestion. I have a variety of mouthpieces pretty much the same size and one a bit shorter. All have the same result with a small selection of ligatures and reeds.
Sounds like Nick's suggestion of a 64mm barrel might be just the thing.
Thanks, Jim
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Author: Bob Phillips
Date: 2006-04-22 05:05
Pull out your current barrel 'til the horn comes drops another 10-15 cents. (checking as suggested above to see if that makes the clarinet go out of tune with itself).
Measure the gap between the adjusted barrel and the upper joint.
Start with a barrel that is shorter by the amount of that gap.
This assumes that shortening the barrel by (say) 2-mm will move the pitch the same distance as lengthing it by (the same) 2-mm.
Bob Phillips
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2006-04-22 08:08
"This assumes that shortening the barrel by (say) 2-mm will move the pitch the same distance as lengthing it by (the same) 2-mm."
Shortening the barrel by 2mm (for example) will make the pitch sharper more than 2mm of lengthing the barrel will make it flatter. This is by the same logic that a shorter barrel will make the open fingers notes sharper than the closed fingers notes.
Also, just for basic information, I have an acoustics professor who I would dare say is one of the most knowledgable people in this field, and from very serious and extensive research, they found that humans can hear about a 5 cent difference around the above the staff G, and above and below that it is gradually getting more and more. For example, around middle C people can hear about a 10 cent difference.
Of course this varies a lot depending on the situation, but that's about right when listening to one note and compare.
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Author: Hiroshi
Date: 2006-04-22 09:29
>Shortening the barrel by 2mm (for example) will make the pitch sharper more than 2mm of lengthing the barrel will make it flatter. This is by the same logic that a shorter barrel will make the open fingers notes sharper than the closed fingers notes.
Choosing a barrel a little shorter than required will give a tuning tolerance by pulling it out since putting it in is impossible as past threads tell.
If the present barrel should be changed to one with a reverse taper, the matter will not go simpe like this.
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Author: Liquorice
Date: 2006-04-23 22:45
David wrote: "You might be better off changing mouthpiece rather than barrel."
I don't think so. A higher pitched mouthpiece has much the same effect as a shorter barrel- i.e. it effects the "shorter" notes more than the long ones.
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