 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Sara
Date: 2000-07-15 04:17
I've wanted to do this wit my horn every since I got which was about this tome last year and I was wondering, should I take it to the local music store, a small locally owned store thats run by a brass player, and have him do it. My private teacher is a college guy and I trust him and all but i feel that he's not experienced enough in adjusting horns, and I have tried a few other teachers but no one comes close to teaching the way he does, so I don't want to try it. Who would I take it to? I would rather not put a $2000 horn in the hands of an incompetent tech and ask him to bend the keys and adjust the pads, to my satisfaction and comfort. I've heard that making minor adjustments to the keys and things makes a world of difference in the performance of the horn. Hope you guys can help me!
Sara
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Author: William
Date: 2000-07-15 15:22
Bending keys is not that "high tech" a deal. Any repair person, regardless of their major expertise, should be able to execute key adjustment proceedures (bending and adjusting). I'm no trained expert, but I adjust my own keys with resonable success. My opinions only. Good luck.
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Author: Sara
Date: 2000-07-17 03:38
Just wondering-has anyone else done things to there orns to make them have better response? I mean bending your own keys or something?
Sara
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Author: Contragirl
Date: 2000-07-17 06:57
My teacher likes to send his instrument away to far off places to get his instruments "personalized". Like the metal piece/hole under the register key, he got that replaced so he had a better control of making the high notes in tune, and getting a better response. He also makes sure all of the clunks are out of his keys, and they can be fixed by a tech easily. Some adjusting on the distance a key should be from the instrument can affect the notes by making in tune or out of tune. Right now, my clarinet's low F/C hole is too open, so the key needs to be bent in a little more. I can't explain much else. I don't understand most of it myself.
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Author: Hiroshi
Date: 2000-07-17 08:00
Brannnen. I remember someone informed us of his address and a ballpark budgetary cost at this BBS. But there may be many clients waiting for their turns.
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Author: Fred
Date: 2000-07-17 17:15
I'm no tech (so maybe I should keep my mouth shut), but I'll be doggone if I'm going to go bending too much on my R13. One of the worst things a person can do is go fixing things that weren't broke to begin with. When that doesn't work, you bend something else . . . then something else. Getting all the stuff that wasn't a problem at all back to where you had it can then be a real chore. Diagnosis requires knowledge, and a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
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Author: Fred McKenzie
Date: 2000-07-17 21:48
Sara wrote:
-------------------------------
Just wondering-has anyone else done things to there orns to make them have better response? I mean bending your own keys or something?
Sara-
There may actually be three issues here. First, some instruments' keys are more brittle than others. It may be more expensive to repair them than to pay the technician to bend them to start with.
Second, if you are learning to play the instrument, you may have difficulty playing others later that have not been adjusted. In other words, you will learn to plan an adjusted version of the instrument, not the generic real-world instrument.
Third, even mass-produced "identical" instruments aren't necessarily identical. Since few are perfect, adjustments of key heiths and pad thicknesses are frequently needed to improve intonation and playability or sound quality of individual notes. Perhaps this is what you are really looking for. To have this done to your instrument, you should look for a woodwind technician with experience doing this kind of adjustment. Your teacher probably doesn't have the ability to do it, but may be able to suggest a repair technician who does.
If the third type of adjustment is what you want, it may be a good idea if you are serious about music and are playing a Pro instrument such as the R-13 mentioned before. If you are playing a Bundy or other student model instrument, then it may not be cost effective to adjust it. Rather, you should concentrate on gaining experience and eventually upgrading to an instrument that can be adjusted to perfection.
Fred
<A HREF="http://www.dreamnetstudios.com/music/mmb/index.htm">MMB</A>
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Author: Meredith H
Date: 2000-07-17 23:52
It's not a bad idea to get your instrument checked out by an experienced technician every year or 2 even it is just to replace a few pads and corks. Having said this I have a 15 year old intermediate wooden instrument that has never been repaired by anyone other than myself and it still doesn't play too badly (I am just trying to decide if it is worth getting overhauled or not). If I were you I would send my instrument away to someone that specialises in clarinet repair, you may as well have the job done properly the first time. I needed some small repairs done to my good clarinet and took it in to the local music store. He replaced a couple of pads but did such a poor job they didn't seal properly and now I will have to send it away to someone that is more qualified.
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