Author: Bob Phillips
Date: 2010-06-07 15:33
Clarinets are strange critters, and the register key system is more compromised than other instruments that swap register vents depending upon how many fingers are down when the reg key is opened.
The interplay between mouthpiece (volume, bore, length and baffle shape); the barrel (helping the mouthpiece convert reed flapping into air column compression); and the register vent (distance down the bore, size, depth, pad opening) is very complex.
Changing mouthpieces and tuning barrels will probably change your particular instrument's weirdness --but you seem to be able to deal with your current set-up's eccentricities. I'd just go ahead and live with what you know.
You might learn something by wrapping the register key's touch piece in masking tape to reduce the pad's opening distance and checking your clarion register's intonation. If a smaller opening helps, you can then bend tie key or thicken the stop cork to make the adjustment permanent.
If you get an chance, and have the curiosity, try different mouthpieces and barrels --with your tuner watching over your tests.
Bob Phillips
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The Clarinet BBoard
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