 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: kev182
Date: 2012-04-29 09:07
Do you know what barrels tend to work on the festival? I have heard that moennings don't work very well (mine don't) and chadash are more suitable...
Any thoughts?
Thank you
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Author: Alseg
Date: 2012-04-29 12:39
It depends on what you mean by "work on"
Festivals tend not to require much taper for intonation benefits.
After that, it becomes a matter of taste in sound.
disclaimer....I make and sell barrels. Recently reorganized by Bain Capital, Rumors of governmental takeover (Nanny State) of the clarinet barrel industry? no comment.
Former creator of CUSTOM CLARINET TUNING BARRELS by DR. ALLAN SEGAL
-Where the Sound Matters Most(tm)-
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Author: Grabnerwg
Date: 2012-04-29 23:27
Most of my customers who buy Festivals tend not to buy/need replacement barrels. The Festival comes with both 66 and 65 mm barrels and the tuning, in my opinion, is one of the real strong points of the Festival.
Allan is right when he says that barrels for the Festival do not require much taper, as the 12ths in the upper joint are quite good.
What is it that you are trying to achieve by using a different barrel?
Walter Grabner
www.clarinetxpress.com
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Author: kev182
Date: 2012-04-30 04:01
The reason I'm looking for a different barrel is to find one that could possibly provide a more even/homogenous sound. The 66mm stock barrel tunes very well (great 12ths), however it is quite a bit more uneven than the 65mm stock barrel that came with the clarinet - which plays too high. So I'm trying to find a 66mm barrel that could provide the evenness quality of my 65mm barrel, but with similar tuning characteristics of the stock 66mm barrel.
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Author: kenb
Date: 2012-04-30 04:18
What about installing a 1mm ring in the 65mm barrel?
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Author: Alseg
Date: 2012-04-30 13:20
Have you tried turning the barrel on its axis (i.e. the logo faces a different direction) to find a spot that works better?
Or...try a different 66mm Festival barrel (maybe yours has a "blip in the bore"...or a "b-2" as we say in the biz). OR contact a custom barrel artisan and send both barrels for internal bore mapping analysis and possible tweak or making one for you).
Disclaimer......you know the drill by now. I make barrels so I can become rich and spread the wealth to someone who inhales stuff other than sawdust.
Former creator of CUSTOM CLARINET TUNING BARRELS by DR. ALLAN SEGAL
-Where the Sound Matters Most(tm)-
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Author: kev182
Date: 2012-04-30 14:10
Alan, those do seem to be the two options at this point, although I don't know where one can try to find another 66mm stock festival barrel (any ideas? Buffet factory?). I will definitely keep you in mind if I begin to search for custom barrels! I will also try finding the sweet spot of the barrel
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2012-05-01 04:04
AFAIK the Festival uses the same barrel as the R13 Prestige... which is the same barrel as the R13 except the wood for the Prestige is supposed to be better. So if you know anyone with an R13 you can try their barrel.
BTW what happens if you use the 65mm barrel but 1mm open?
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Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2012-05-01 09:06
Moenig barrels are not perfect for sure. When buying a clarinet, picking out barrels is often just as hard, so take your time testing the Moenig. Also try others. This barrel was set up for R-13's and the Prestige has a different taper, so be careful here.
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Author: Jbosacki
Date: 2012-05-07 01:58
I have a set of Festivals, Both bought at the same time from a dealer in Chicago. My Bb was new and my A is older and was owned by an orchestral player.
On My Bb I use a Backun Tradition barrel (66mm) and I love the sound I get from it. I think it really compliments the instrument in itself, but sometimes because of the set up I have troubles getting to the extremes of my dynamic range, my softs are wonderful but if I need to play louder or when I play in a Jazz Setting I play on the Buffet 66mm) that came with my festivals
My A actually came with a 64mm chadash, and I've now found this to almost be useless, it makes it much to bright and the fact that it's a 64 causes intonation problems all over the place
for my A festival I use the 65mm that came with my Bb and it sounds fantastic!
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Author: Wayne Thompson
Date: 2012-05-08 23:04
Hi Kev 182,
I bet you could find more Festival 660 barrels easily by advertising. I always tend flat and only use the 650 barrel with my Bb Festival. I probably ought to let the unused 660 go, and there are probably others like me like me out there that will sell you their spare.
:) However I won't sell my own right now; having read this little discussion, I think I'll go home and reevaluate all my barrels....
Wayne Thompson
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Author: donald
Date: 2012-05-09 08:12
I play a pair of Festivals I bought from the Sydney Symphony (owned by the orchestra and played by their 2nd clarinet for 4 years). The stock 65mm barrel for the A clarinet had some nice qualities but was a little "uneven" in response. A barrel made by Les Nicholson specifically for this clarinet (and the mouthpiece i was using at the time) gave a much more even response and improved the intonation. When I bought a new mouthpiece at Clarinetfest 2011 also found 2 new barrels to use on this A clarinet
- a 65mm barrel by Schwenke und Seggelke which has an incredibly smooth response and great sound, with intonation about the same as the stock barrel. I am considering using this for a Mozart concerto performance later in the year.
- a 65mm barrel from Taplin/Weir marked "65M5" that has better intonation than the stock, though not as good as the Nicholson, with a very free blowing response that matches the B flat clarinet set up a little better... AFTER i selected this barrel i was told that the taper on the "M5" model is apparently very similar to the stock taper.
- I also have a "Wencia" barrel, specifically made to "free up" stuffy A clarinets. It feels incredible- the lower end of the bottom joint feels as though someone has drilled extra venting holes when you use this barrel, and the intonation is also very good (made in Taiwan by a repair tech/mouthpiece refacer there). However, most people find that when they play this barrel their tone loses some "body" and "hold". Frank Celata played it once and commented that it felt great but sounded "thin". My experience has been that if you play on it for an hour or two, you adjust (and also can select a more suitable reed), however I don't use this barrel anymore. Of course, it LOOKS amazingly beautiful for what that is worth...
dn
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