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Clarinet Key Design

Author: Ski
Date: 2007-09-08 03:57

Wondering why the throat A and register keys are designed to be smooth in shape as opposed to having depressions into which the fingers can rest.

On my bass, for example, except for the LH F/thumb key, all of the plateau keys as well as the half-hole key are convex. When I play these keys there's a great sense of security in that my fingers fit into those slight depressions. But not so for the throat A and register key. For example, if I play throat D to A quickly, my index finger is prone to slide right up that smooth key! I sometimes wish that the A key had either an actual round key tacked onto the end of it, or, that the front of it was carved out to create a convex depression, to act as a "stop" for my finger and provide the same sense of security that I feel playing plateaus.

Now, to the soprano. Whle it doesn't have plateaus, there's still a sense of security in that fingers fit into rings. But of course the design of the A and register keys is the same as on the bass.

When I first played soprano and bass in grade school (age 12), playing the A and register keys felt "insecure" compared to playing the tone hole keys --- just as they do now that I'm revisiting these instruments after a 30+ year hiatus. To borrow Tom Ridenour's term, I feel a sense of "vertigo" when I play the A and register keys, but particularly the A.

So I'm just curious as to why these keys are designed to be smooth instead of having areas carved into them for a finger to fit securely.

(BTW, trill keys and pinky keys feel fine -- it's just the register and A keys that are problematic).

Post Edited (2007-09-09 01:13)

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