 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: janlynn
Date: 2012-02-14 16:42
sorry if this is a stupid question - but what is the purpose of the rings? why were they added to the finger holes?
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Author: TianL
Date: 2012-02-14 17:07
push the rings and you will see there are mechanisms associated with them, i.e. they cover or open other holes
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2012-02-14 17:09
For me, anyway, rings provide the added benefit of helping to center my clumsy fat bass clarinetist's fingers over the toneholes.
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Author: Goele
Date: 2012-02-14 17:14
Stupid questions don't exist, only stupid answers.
The answer to this question is very simple:
Every ringkey, although some can move individually, is linked to a bar to which more keys (full ones or rings) are connected. So by pushing one key, you can close more than one hole.
This complicated system of levers and bars (sorry, I'm not familiar with the correct English terms) was developed first for the flute, by Theobald Böhm. It was later added onto the clarinet by (if I'm not mistaken) August Buffet (instrument maker) and Hyacinthe Klosé (clarinet player). The purpose of this system is to make the instrument easier to play (before there were a lot of fork fingerings) and to make it better tuned. By closing a hole you change the note, but if that hole has a ring, another hole on the same bar may close too, and adjust the intonation.
So far the extremely short version. Any want to add or correct?
_____________________________
Without music the world would B flat!
Post Edited (2012-02-14 17:16)
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Author: alto gether
Date: 2012-02-14 18:51
The rings provide the possibility of pushing down the edge of the ring, closing whatever hole is closed by the mechanism without closing the ringed hole itself. Very oddly, such fingerings are not part of the standard fingerings any more, so the rings might as well be solid pads as on saxes and the big clarinets. On historical clarinets without all the current keys, I'm reasonably sure that the ring-edge fingerings were important. I will defer to the experts on historical instruments here.
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2012-02-15 06:00
>> Very oddly, such fingerings are not part of the standard fingerings any more, so the rings might as well be solid pads as on saxes and the big clarinets <<
Yes, but it would make the mechanism significantly more complicated and more expensive to make. Of course it's possible, and the price difference might be even less than between two different "regular" models, but still one of the nice things about most clarinets is their relatively simple mechanisms.
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Author: Grabnerwg
Date: 2012-02-15 16:17
The system of rings and attached keys with pads also helps put the tone holes where your fingers naturally lie, rather than where the tonehole would have to be acoustically. Otherwise, we would have very uncomfortable finger position, especially between the first and second fingers
Walter Grabner
www.clarinetxpress.com
New and Used Buffet Clarinets
Walter Grabner
www.clarinetxpress.com
847-266-8644
Post Edited (2012-02-16 01:49)
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Author: alto gether
Date: 2012-02-15 19:54
I understood the question to be "why rings instead of solid pads?". How is a ringed Bb clarinet simpler than a solid-pad bass or a plateau-key Bb? I'm the worst possible person to address this, because I very rarely play anything smaller than alto. The only reason I'm commenting here is to clarify the question, since I don't pretend to know the answer, except . . .
There is at least one common fingering that presses down a ring without covering the tonehole, on the LH index finger to get into the altissimo. I had to take my Bb out of its case to confirm a couple of other fingerings that kinda work with rings but aren't available on my big horns. (My alto has an altissimo vent on the LF Index pad. My contra alto can't have one because the pad is a long way from they key, and I miss it.)
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Author: Tony Pay ★2017
Date: 2012-02-15 21:29
It's a long time since I played K622 on a 'modern' clarinet; but I like to play 'small' semitones in bars 150 - 151 in the first movement -- imagine a violinist playing the passage.
You can do that on a modern instrument by playing the C# including the RH Eb key, the A# with just the RH rings in addition to the standard B fingering, and the F# with just the RH rings in addition to the standard G fingering.
The C# has to be normal, but by then the point has been made.
Tony
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Author: janlynn
Date: 2012-02-16 14:27
to clarify the question - there were no rings on the Chalameau. you just covered the hole with your finger. I wanted to know why the rings were added. and through the many replies - i got may answer. thank you.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2012-02-16 15:08
Rings are fitted to control pads to close toneholes either beyond reach or to simplify fingerings. The simple act of placing a finger onto a tonehole that lowers the rings is all done without any extra thought - you're not thinking foremost about closing the rings, you're only thinking which fingers to put down.
On some earlier (non-Boehm system) clarinets with around 8 to 13 keys there was a small closed side key running along the joint under the right hand for RH finger 3 to open to improve the tuning of B or F# (xxx|xo,o) but this was awkward to use in fast passages. Then the 'brille' (German for spectacles) was fitted which had rings for RH fingers 2 and 3 which controlled a pad which closed a small vent hole when either RH 2 or 3 were closed, but the vent hole was then open to give a well tuned B or F# with the simple fingering (xxx|xoo). Some simple/Albert system clarinets have rings which control the venting of the top joint F# so the side F key doesn't have to be used to bring it up to pitch. German and Oehler system clarinets have rings with small pad cups soldered directly to them to control the tuning of specific notes in all registers depending on the fingerings used - they're linked in such a way that the fingerings used either close or leave them open depending what the note is and which register it's in.
On a Boehm system clarinet which was a complete redesign of the mechanism (among other things not of particular importance to this thread), rings control the closure of the throat G vent (controlled by the thumb ring and LH finger 1 ring), the E/B vent (the ring for LH2) and the C/G vent (the RH rings). The new mechanism was designed not long after Theobald Boehm redesigned the flute which employed more open standing toneholes than the previous ones which had six fingerholes and several closed keys (and up to three open standing ones on the footjoint). As we only have four fingers and two thumbs on both hands, all these open toneholes had to be closed by some other means than fingers alone, so a system of rings and pad cups was invented to allow them all to be opened and closed in turn, even the ones beyond reach.
Simply putting a finger down lowers the rings which in turn close a pad that's out of reach, so when you play B or F# (xxx|oxo), you're putting RH2 down which also closes the small vent which makes sure the note B/F# sounds (B/F# issues from the RH1 tonehole chimney).
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
Post Edited (2012-02-16 15:16)
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Author: Campana
Date: 2012-02-16 15:54
I'm only a novice but I'll take guess that having a ring instead of a pad leads to the possibility of closing the remote holes by pressing on the edge of the ring while leaving the tone hole open or partially open and sliding the finger across. Isn't it by such means that the glissando from Rhapsody in Blue is achieved.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2012-02-16 22:13
The Rhapsody gliss can still be done on any clarinet with rings or fingerplates (covered action) depending on how it's done.
But with rings, you can indeed use the edge of the ring to close the vent key so if the low register B is a bit dull or under pitch, pressing the edge of the ring can make it clearer.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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