 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2011-02-22 14:47
For anyone who knows those clarinet barrel pickups, or anyone who knows the way they work, do they actually need to "touch" the clarinet air column to capture the sound? What if a pickup like this is attached to a bass clarinet neck, using an extension, without drilling a hole in the neck itself? Does anyone know?
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2011-02-22 14:56
Try it without drilling through the crook first to see if it works.
All the pickups I've seen of this type (usually Barcus-Berry) have all been fitted by drilling holes into mouthpieces, crooks and barrels so they have contact with the air column.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: EEBaum
Date: 2011-02-22 15:23
Pickups that are tiny traditional mics, like the ones usually drilled into barrels and necks, function best when in contact with the air column, as they primarily pick up air vibrations. It's the difference between putting a mic just outside the clarinet (where we know miking is problematic) and inside.
Think putting a mic in a room vs. holding a mic up to the outside of the door to the room.
If the pickup is a contact mic, e.g. piezo (less common, but what I use), it must be attached to a vibrating surface. Reed works best in my experience.
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2011-02-22 16:32
Whether or not a pickup 'touches' the air column or is excited via transmission through the clarinet wall, the excitation it receives will be totally 'unnatural' and, unless its output is processed correctly, the transmitted sound will be nothing like the airborne sound heard by the audience. Even the highest-quality microphone must be positioned far enough from the source (the clarinet) to get it out of the pressure near-field, for it to reproduce the instrument's sound accurately. So if the transducer is either built into or stuck onto the clarinet itself, almost by definition it cannot faithfully reproduce the audience-perceived sound.
The bottom line is, the quality of the amplified sound heard by the audience, regardless of the type and mounting arrangement of the transducer used, depends strongly on the processing of the transducer signal.
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2011-02-23 10:52
I'm interested in the technical way that it's working, whether it can capture the sound through a blocked neck wall. Maybe not at all, or just not as good. I can try it, but prefer to know if someone knows for sure.
Dave, I've tried this with both soprano and bass clarinets. With soprano, it's not as "natural" as the usual sound and also not as natural as regular or clip-on mics. For its purpose, it's by far the best (though this purpose is probably irrelevant for 99.99% of the clarinetsts). For bass, I need to experiment more before I have any conclusions, but so far seems promising for the same purpose (maybe a bit less even in respond through the entire range than with soprano). I use dynamic and/or condenser mics on stands, some clip-on mics (including the AMT special double mic), and also this pickup. Each works best depending on the situation and purpose.
BTW samples and YouTubes showing these often have a Greek/Turkish type tone and can give a strange impression. I sound very different with mine than the sample of the same pickup I heard, because of the player there was a Greek style player.
Post Edited (2011-02-23 10:58)
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