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Reluctant C5

Author: sdr
Date: 2010-01-31 13:35

I am playing a Buffet Bb R13 Greenline. I have recently noticed that my C5 (clarion "long" C) hesitates before it speaks. This is especially noticeable if it is the top half of a legato big interval, for example C4 --> C5 in the opening 3rd measure of Brahms' Sonata #2. I have no trouble with this interval on other clarinets. Changing mouthpiece or barrel has no apparent impact on the problem. Fingering with left or right pinky has no effect on the problem. Frankly, I do not know if it has always been this way and I never noticed before the Brahms demanded a smooth transition, or if it is newly acquired.

Any ideas what would cause this? Is it fixable? Is it just a quirk of this horn's acoustics that I'll have to live with?

Thanks.

-sdr

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Re: Reluctant C5

Author: kdk
Date: 2010-01-31 13:59

There are several possible reasons for the C not to speak in that passage, among them fingers that don't cover their holes and a tendency to jostle the mouthpiece and clamp the embouchure down in reaction. But if the passage gives you no problem on other clarinets, then probably the pad that closes when the F/C key is pressed isn't level and doesn't seal all the way around. Have a technician re-seat it (or replace it if it's actually torn). If that doesn't solve the problem, then something may be leaking farther up the instrument. Small leaks that make little or no difference to other notes have a cumulative effect on the long notes - particularly long B and C. If the problem is a leaky pad, it wouldn't matter which C you use (left or right) - it's the same pad either way.

Karl

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Re: Reluctant C5

Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2010-01-31 14:00

sdr -

It's 99:1 that the pad is not closing tight. Try caressing the key down with as little pressure as possible. If the hesitation is worse, or the note plays only when you put substantial pressure on the key, then that's definitely the problem.

Other possibilities:
- The crows-foot lever could also be binding on one of the two keys below.
- The rod screw for the key could be loose.
- A pad above or below (Ab/Eb or F#/C#) could be leaking.

With these large pads, it's important to check the seating all the way around. The pad could have deteriorated or have a split.
Also check for nicks in the rim or a "potato chip" warping in the rim shape.
Or, horror of horrors, there could be a body crack.
Finally, the wood grain could have opened up in the rim, producing tiny leaks.

The last three fixes are really for a technician, and not DIY.

Ken Shaw

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Re: Reluctant C5

Author: sdr
Date: 2010-01-31 20:57

Thanks Karl and Ken, I believe you are right. If I mash down on one of the pinky keys, it improves the problem and if I play it more gently, it gets worse.

-steve

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