Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2009-10-07 15:44
If you find a barrel that's great on both instruments, more power to you. Kal Opperman, who made my barrels, says that it's nearly impossible to make a barrel that brings out the best in both the Bb and A clarinets. He makes them with different lengths and tapers. Certainly my Bb and A play better with separate barrels.
However, the difference is probably more noticeable to the player than to listeners. For example, in the Brahms Second finale, where many players use the Bb to avoid the nasty Ab arpeggio in both parts, you need to switch back to the A in a blink, and there's a great danger of twisting off the ligature or disturbing the reed position if you just switch the mouthpiece. Short of using a second mouthpiece, it's safer to switch the mouthpiece and barrel.
Ken Shaw
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The Clarinet BBoard
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