 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Ken Rasmussen
Date: 2001-01-11 03:19
I have an Eb sopranino that might be an ideal candidate for tone hole surgery. It plays flat on most notes, but sharp on a few. It can be lipped into tune, but it is a big chore--big enough to make a person want to play a different horn. I've ordered several mouthpieces which I will test. I know for a fact that the one I'm using is very poor. Perhaps that will solve the problem, but I suspect that this horn could benefit from tone hole surgery or barrel shortening. I might try this myself, but I'd probably be happier hiring the job out. I'm planning to make a chart showing the intonation variation as described in Clark Fobes article, after I have selected a better mouthpiece. Some of you were kind enough to offer some suggestions when I was asking for mouthpiece recommendations earlier, but I'd be happy to hear more ideas and opinions. Do any of you know technicians who have had experience with this particular type of service? The horn in question is a Kohlert. Hey Dave Spiegenthal! Are you ready to take your hobby to the next level and take a little filthy lucre for a small job I have in mind. . . .
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Author: Fred
Date: 2001-01-11 16:25
You might also contact Tom Ridenour about a job like that.
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Author: J. Butler
Date: 2001-01-11 16:49
You have to understand that altering a tone hole will affect other notes as well. It gets to be quite a Catch-22. You may alter a tone hole #1 and get to tuned to perfection. Feeling good about the results tone hole #2 gets altered. FANTASTIC! Now you go back and check tone hole #1 and it plays out of tune again....!!! Oh, what to do? It is an art that has to be done by someone who really has enough experience to "know" just how far to go without rendering your clarinet into something that can only be used for a club. It isn't cheap either. I'm not saying it can't be done but the cost vs trading to an instrument that plays correctly should be weighed. I agree with Fred..contact Tim Ridenour or someone else that does this custom work (Brannen is another that comes to mind). I personally don't get into it at all. I've experimented with it on some of my own instruments in the past with mixed results, but determined that selecting an instrument that plays in tune is of prime importance and makes such issues mute.
John
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Author: Dave Spiegelthal
Date: 2001-01-11 17:03
Ken,
My cojones are enormous, I'm up for the job. I just successfully relocated the bottom (low-E/clarion-C) tonehole on my Kohlert bass clarinet, operation was 100% successful. Intonation completely corrected. I'm pumped, I'm ready. Ain't nothing can stop me now. (All that, and I'm humble, too!)
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Author: Anji
Date: 2001-01-11 21:21
You da man!
My neighbor has suggested I relocate all (and I mean all) of my toneholes.
anji
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Author: Ken Rasmussen
Date: 2001-01-12 03:06
All right Dave! I think we can get together on this one. Its not a valuable horn, so nobody is at much risk. The only place to go is up--we're already down. The horn is in good mechanical condition, so it really is just a matter of doing the tuning, and perhaps replacing imprinted pads that won't seal after resizing holes. First I'll get the mouthpiece, practice a bit in case my problem is just lack of skill with the e-fer, make my intonation chart, and then I'll get back to you. I really appreciate you stepping forward. What a guy!
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Author: jbutler
Date: 2001-01-12 23:28
Low E/ Clarion C?
As we say in South Texas, even a blind hog finds an acorn once in awhile!
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2001-01-14 14:09
The tones holes near the bottom are so easy compared with the ones near the top, some of which can affect many notes. Good luck! I corrected the tuning of my Emerson Alto flute by cutting a bit off the head and then fiilling in about 1/4 of each of about 2/3 of the tone holes. Mucking around with a flute is FAR more straight forward than with a clarinet.
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Author: David Spiegelthal
Date: 2001-01-15 15:23
Although I would expect it to be easier to grind and shape the wood (or plastic or hard rubber) around the tonehole of a clarinet, then to relocate the metal chimney of a flute tonehole...
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Author: Ken Rasmussen
Date: 2001-01-17 03:04
Hey Dave! Your job just got a lot easier! A Clark Fobes Nova mouthpiece raised the pitch of the instrument and reduced the intonation variation significantly. I think you've got a good chance of emerging triumphant from this job.
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