 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2009-01-25 15:08
Attachment: plastic_tube_inst1.jpg (19k)
I just made a very easy instrument and I'm wondering if anyone made any instrument here? I guess I'm interested in how they sound, etc.
The one I made is really easy. I had a plastic tube and I just cut holes in it. It sounds a bit like a slighty buzzy clarinet. I tried it with clarinet and alto sax mouthpieces.
With clarinet mouthpiece the scale is: A, C#, D#, E#, G#, B, D.
With alto sax mouthpiece the scale is: A, D, E, F#, A#, C#, E.
Intonation isn't great but considering I just guessed where to put the tone holes it's surprisingly good, and tone not bad at all (especially since notes like clarinet clarion E are throat notes on this instrument). A thumbrest would help a lot since it is hard to move fast from closed notes to open notes (have to bring right hand fingers back to hold it).
It will probably actually be usable, or at least a tweaked version of it. I know some companies make instruments like this.
Photo attached.
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Author: Arnoldstang
Date: 2009-01-25 17:48
How are these notes fingered? There are some odd pentatonic scales there. Is the instrument big enough that more holes could be added to fill in the gaps?
Freelance woodwind performer
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2009-01-25 18:11
You can make basic keys (open or closed) from plastic (or plastic with metal to strengthen them), mounted to the tube and sprung with elastic bands and with foam pads to cover the toneholes.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
Post Edited (2009-01-25 18:11)
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2009-01-26 06:56
>> How are these notes fingered?
By opening and closing the holes with your fingers.
>> There are some odd pentatonic scales there.
They are only odd if you compare them with something else and you consider than "something else" not odd. There are instruments with even less notes. Anyway all sorts of pentatonic scales are used in many different types of music (though actually the scale in this instrument isn't pentatnoic).
>> Is the instrument big enough that more holes could be added to fill in the gaps?
That depends. Without adding keys you can only have as many holes are your fingers. For this specific one, it is probably possible to add something for the pinky if strategically located (more to the side). You need to plan the location of all the holes, for example right now because I placed some notes too off-set it makes it impossible to add a right hand pinky hole.
>> You can make basic keys (open or closed) from plastic (or plastic
>> with metal to strengthen them), mounted to the tube and sprung
>> with elastic bands and with foam pads to cover the toneholes.
Open holes might be a good idea to do for pinkies with extensions. Closed keys might work for the same finger, for example the top right hand finger, to open another hole. I guess it requires especially soft pads considering the shape of the tone holes. With this especially small bore and thin wall, it's not so easy to mount keys, plus a big part of what I like about this instrument is how simple and fast it is to make. I also like the "different" scales too (can also use several) and the tone is not bad and very possible to use.
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Author: rsholmes
Date: 2009-01-26 10:27
Here
http://doctroid.livejournal.com/32382.html
is a PVC clarinet I made some time ago, inspired by this page
http://www.geocities.com/tpe123/folkurban/clarinet/index.html
I didn't feel like trying to make a mouthpiece so I just put a clarinet mouthpiece on it. The fingering is not conventional (for instance, it uses the left pinky to cover a hole between those for the left ring and right index fingers) but that allows it to play a full diatonic scale (roughly in tune!) up to the register break and past.
Later I attempted a Bohlen-Pierce clarinet, but I messed up on the tuning and put that project aside. Another incomplete project, inspired by Papalini's bass clarinet
http://www.mfa.org/collections/search_art.asp?recview=true&id=50419
was a contra-alto range instrument made of PVC pipe and lots of elbows...
Fun stuff, I highly recommend it especially if you have a drill press -- doing this with a hand drill would be a bit of a pain. (Literally, if you aren't careful!)
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Author: David McC
Date: 2009-01-26 11:57
clarnibass:
I thought you might find the following site intersting. He has plenty of how-to's, cds etc.
Shows what one dedicated person can do with a simple idea such as that you are currently working on.
keep at it!! you never know where a simple idea might take you!!
http://www.eriktheflutemaker.com/bamboo_flutes.htm
David
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2009-01-26 13:41
OK here is a short sample. Keep in mind the tone holes positions are practically random (chosen only by intuition), so intonation isn't the best. I don't yet have good control so my figners are still slopy with this instrument too. I just used regular computer microphone with Audicy for the recording (sorry). It's just a short random improvisation but gives an idea of how it sounds.
http://www.nitailevi.com/temp/samp2.mp3
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Author: Bluesparkle
Date: 2009-01-26 19:15
If you haven't seen this already, it's worth a look:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWbj7FYEi3M
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