Author: toney
Date: 2008-07-24 01:26
Of course barrels can make a huge difference, depending on which brand you go with, however no two are ever the same. I believe it can make *that* much of a difference to change the barrel as you questioned...
I personally found Moennig barrels better than the stock I was using and after a period of about two years switched to Chadash barrels which I found even better. After some convincing from various friends who use Backun I ordered a whole slew of the traditional and didn't find one I liked. I then tried a MOBA barrel however and out of 8 MOBA's I received, found one that I considered to be superior by a mile to anything I had ever played on. So even in a batch of good barrels and well established names, I think there can be huge differences between each one. I personally didn't like any of the Backun traditional but would never trade my MOBA barrels for anything as of this moment.
I believe that changing the bell has a much less dramatic effect than changing the barrel but it can make a difference. I personally broke down and bought a MOBA bell as well to go with my barrels, but even then and again, I had 13 bells sent to me and only found one that I thought made a huge difference. And even that difference is much more noticeable on the A clarinet than the Bb as well but it is quite a difference. I found that difference to be in focus and clarity of sound, as well as bringing up the pitch on the lower clarion which can tend toward the flat side, thereby making the tone more uniformly in pitch throughout all registers in general.
My suggestion would be to try different brands but always at least 6-8 barrels per brand as there can be a wide variety and select the one that allows you to produce that sound in your head you are looking for. For me personally, that was the MOBA barrels for Backun and on my regular R-13s they make a huge difference in a very positive way (commented to me by orchestra colleagues).
Good luck and good hunting!
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