 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Nicko
Date: 2000-06-25 01:23
Hi. I wrote a message not long ago asking about Buffet DG's. But in the message I also mentioned about being interested in the Buffet Festival. Since then I have been trialing a bunch of festivals and DG's and have that the tone I'm looking for is not with the DG, but the Festival (just as my teacher suspected). Anyway, the problem is, although the festival has the tone I love, I am having the same problem with each festival model I've trialed..that is, the throat notes are very stuffy/fuzzy sounding, and occasionally the notes just over the break won't sound. The DG doesn't give me this problem of notes not sounding, but I don't like playing the DG as much as the festival. Any opinions? Can repairmen do anything to fix the stuffy throat notes and the problem over the break?
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2000-06-25 01:50
Nicko wrote:
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Can repairmen do anything to fix the stuffy throat notes and the problem over the break?
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Francois Kloc of Buffet replaced the register tube on my son's. However, the Festival is known for a weak and/or stuffy Bb. You need to work with it to get it to sound nice.
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Author: William
Date: 2000-06-25 02:33
Most pro clarinet players improve their clarinet throat tones by using special fingerings I call "venting." Try adding your l-h second and third fingers while playing A and Bb. I also add my l-h little finger on the low E/B key as well--sounds clumsy but you can easily get used to it. For G#, add the l=h third finger and r-h first. For open G, try adding the r-h first and second finger. As for the increased resistance going "over the break" that is a classic Buffet trait you have to learn to live with. The clarity of the third line B may be improved by opening the throat A key. Also, try rotating your bell, bit by bit, until your B sounds better--mark the position and always assemble your bell joint at that spot. Hope this all helps.
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Author: Dee
Date: 2000-06-25 04:21
These clarinets may also need a little bit of tweaking in pad heights and spring adjustments to suit your hands. If a spring is a little stiff, for example, the pad might not close completely and thus you have a small leak. This often leads to problems with the B just above the break not speaking properly.
Many clarinets have a poor throat Bb when played with the A key and register key. This is one of the compromises that the designers have to make. The register key is doing double duty. In reality, the size and placement needed for a good Bb is quite different than the size and placement needed for good intonation between the low and middle registers. In general, the quality of the Bb is more or less sacrificed to get good intonation characteristics.
In some slow passages, it is possible to use the A key and appropriate side trill key or the resonance fingerings mentioned by others. This gives an excellent Bb. Of course in very fast passages or places where an entire band or orchestra is playing, it's ok to use the A key + register key fingering.
To keep the Bb at its best, be sure to keep the hole for the register key scrupulously clean. The slightest bit of build up, even that which is not really noticeable to the eye, will cause the Bb to be even worse.
Sometimes even the choice of reed seems to make a difference. Although normally I play Vandoren reeds, the Mitchell Lurie reeds give me a much better Bb and help on other throat tones. So if I know that the music I will be playing has a lot of throat tones and that it won't be covered up by the rest of the band, I'll use the Mitchell Lurie reeds. Of course your instrument may respond entirely differently.
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Author: andrea
Date: 2000-06-25 14:24
perhaps you should spend more time practicing and less time searching for a flawless clarinet, cause that aint gonna happen.
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Author: Sara
Date: 2000-06-26 03:21
I went through the same procees when search for the eperfect one, after I picked out the my festival, then i finally found one, it didn't have a great Bflat, but the rest were great, you have to give and take, I seriously doubt there's the perfect clarinet out there no matter how many numbers are in the price. Well I second the one about putting different fingers down, to improve the intonation, but in an orchestra or band setting whne its faster music i wouldn't worry about the A and the Bflat, but that's coming from a soon-to-be 4th year player.
Sara
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Author: Graham Elliott
Date: 2000-06-26 08:20
Is the Festival so much better than your existing R13, and if so what is the difference? Why did your teacher think that the Festival would be better than the DG, and which Buffet does he play? Do you want a clarinet that will deliver the least imperfect performance with the least effort, or the one which presents more difficulties but has the elusive quality you are after (my guess is that an R13 is in the former camp)? Why did you love the DG so much at first, but have gone off it now (you don't say what went wrong)?
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Author: Nicko
Date: 2000-06-26 13:17
The festival has a much more mellow and well rounded tone than the R13. My teacher asked me exactly what I am looking for in regards to sound, and he said he suspects the festival is probably for me. (He prefers the bright, powerful projection of the R13 which he plays).
At first I liked the DG because it is very easy to play. Very easy blowing, and it does sound more mellow than the R13, but the festival even more so.
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Author: paul
Date: 2000-06-26 14:25
Get the Festival professionally regulated (tweaked). Typically, many clarinets come from the factory set up for chalemeau/clarion register playing and not for the altissimo register, especially to help out the throat Bb. If it's set up for an okay throat Bb, then the register key opens up way too much for decent altissimo register work.
I had my Festival regulated and it made a big difference, especially with its behavior in the altissimo register. The trade off was that the throat Bb is even worse. That's just the facts of life. But you should hear the altissimo now. I can now produce a very sweet sound in the altissimo and each note can easily hit the bullseye on the tuning meter, too. I had both a Buffet certified tech and a pro tutor work over my horn in a set of iterative steps over about a year or so. The best regulation work came from my pro tutor.
Don't blame a typically very good horn for only one note being a bit stuffy, especially this note. Keep in mind that the Bb fingering with the A and Register keys is normally quite stuffy on almost all clarinets. If there is a long passage, try the A key/2nd from top trill key fingering or, as mentioned in postings above, try other fingerings to help out this typically bad note. See the Ridenour Fingering book for additional helpful hints for these Bb throat fingerings.
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