 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: S.H.J.
Date: 2012-03-11 04:43
Hey folks, my high school has a YCL-221 that's a few years old. It sounds good with the stock 4C mouthpiece, and the condition isn't too shabby for a school instrument. Intonation is decent throughout - EXCEPT for the bell notes. The bell C is about 30 cents sharp, while the bell B is 45 cents sharp. The twelfths below those notes are in tune.
Now, I know that bell notes on a bass clarinet tend to be problematic, but really, the bell B being almost a quarter tone sharp? Even playing through a C major scale is painful to the ears, even if I try to voice the bell notes lower. I just can't alter my embouchure and voicing drastically enough or quickly enough. Has anyone else experienced this problem on the YCL-221? Any suggestions on how to deal with this instrument would be appreciated.
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2012-03-11 13:50
Have you tried pulling the bell out? You should be able to manage close to an inch. If that's too loose, wrap a layer or two of a strip torn from a newspaper around the tenon before you put the bell on.
You might also drop the mouthpiece cap down the bell. Believe it or not, that's standard advice. You might even use a shoe.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Merlin_Williams
Date: 2012-03-11 14:32
The YCL-221 has a single register vent for the clarion register, so that exacerbates the sharpness of the B and C. If those notes were lower in pitch, the fundamentals (E and F) would be very flat. It's easier to lip down that up on a clarinet, so that's why they're like that.
A double register key mechanism would improve things substantially, but also raise the selling price quite a bit.
Jupiter Canada Artist/Clinician
Stratford Shakespeare Festival musician
Woodwind Doubling Channel Creator on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/c/WoodwindDoubling
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Author: S.H.J.
Date: 2012-03-12 03:58
Pulling the bell out doesn't do much, even with a mouthpiece cap and a bunch of paper stuffed into it. Haven't tried a shoe though.
As for lipping down on those notes, I personally find it impossible to do so by a quartertone. Even if I could, how does Yamaha expect me to do that when playing fast scalar passages? Of course, that's assuming this is a problem with YCL-221s in general, which I doubt. I just can't imagine such a high-profile company putting a product on the market with such a fatal design flaw. My school and I are just unlucky, I guess.
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Author: Merlin_Williams
Date: 2012-03-12 12:07
S.H.J. wrote:
> As for lipping down on those notes, I personally find it
> impossible to do so by a quartertone. Even if I could, how does
> Yamaha expect me to do that when playing fast scalar passages?
> Of course, that's assuming this is a problem with YCL-221s in
> general, which I doubt. I just can't imagine such a
> high-profile company putting a product on the market with such
> a fatal design flaw. My school and I are just unlucky, I guess.
If you really feel it's a design flaw, contact Yamaha Canada. Talk to Steve Butterworth. He's the head band instrument guy there.
Jupiter Canada Artist/Clinician
Stratford Shakespeare Festival musician
Woodwind Doubling Channel Creator on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/c/WoodwindDoubling
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Author: S.H.J.
Date: 2012-03-13 04:19
Merlin_Williams wrote:
>
> If you really feel it's a design flaw, contact Yamaha Canada.
> Talk to Steve Butterworth. He's the head band instrument guy
> there.
Actually, I meant the opposite. I can't really judge the instrument design when I've only tried one sample. As I've said, I'm just thinking I got unlucky with it. If I was unclear, my apologies.
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