Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2007-04-10 15:09
I'm sitting here depressed because I spent all weekend working on a promising-looking clarinet which despite my efforts is unplayable because of poor intonation.
I recently acquired a very tarnished Alfred Jourdian 3/4-Boehm clarinet, with silver-plated keys, in the hopes that, once restored, its playing qualities would match its appearance. Such was not to be. It has so many intonation problems that despite two days of tonehole modifications, register tube modifications, and experimentation with various bells, barrels, and mouthpieces, I can't get the intonation to meet my personal standard of acceptability (which I'd summarize as about plus or minus 5 cents from A-440 everywhere, with a little more deviation allowed on the low E and up in the altissimo where the notes can be readily 'favored').
As for the silver plating of the keywork, it appears to be an aftermarket job since the flat springs are plated (!) -- whoever did the job was too lazy to remove springs before plating the keys. Still, you'd think that a manufacturer who went to the trouble of building in all the additional keywork (extra ring, articulated G#, alternate Ab/Eb) would make sure the bloody thing played halfway in tune?
If anyone has any suggestions, I'd sure appreciate them. I've 'fixed' most of the individual notes to be approximately in tune with their neighbors, but the one major problem that has me stumped is that the clarion register is, on average, about 20 cents FLATTER than the chalumeau and throat registers (which are now acceptably in tune, as is the altissimo).
The clarinet otherwise looks nice and has a decent sound, so I'd hate to give up and throw the thing in the parts bin.
Maybe the gods are doing this to me as an "anti-hubris" measure -- I was starting to think I could fix just about anything on a clarinet. There have been other instruments I've worked on that simply wouldn't respond to treatment, not all of them vintage ones either. Anyone else have a clarinet that just couldn't be made right?
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The Clarinet BBoard
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