 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: oboeidaho
Date: 2012-05-22 20:19
I am a doubler of middling clarinet skills - I play on a 1929 Buffet and as I improve I notice the pitch is lower than I'd like. After reading about barrels on this board I was sort of alarmed when I measured mine, it is 68mm (maybe 67.8 if I'm being really generous) which seems longer than usual?
I'd like some advice about how to proceed trying shorter barrels - many do not fit my old clarinet and I have no expertise in this area. Don't want to spend a lot, but it would be great to have the option of pulling out a bit!
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Author: SteveG_CT
Date: 2012-05-23 02:03
oboeidaho wrote:
> I'd like some advice about how to proceed trying shorter
> barrels - many do not fit my old clarinet and I have no
> expertise in this area. Don't want to spend a lot, but it would
> be great to have the option of pulling out a bit!
It's tough to say whether your 68mm barrel is the original stock length or not. Most boehm clarinets use a barrel around 66mm in length today but that was not always the case.
I have a 1920's vintage tunable barrel that adjusts from ~63mm up to ~72mm. Providing it fits your tenon I'd be willing to let you borrow it to help figure out what length barrel might work better for you. Shoot me an e-mail if you are interested
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Author: oboeidaho
Date: 2012-05-23 14:39
SteveG - that is really generous of you! Just to get you some more info, my current barrel is 24mm inside measurement (to the clarinet) and 22mm to the mouthpiece. I have several other barrels that don't fit, so I'm guessing this is not the norm.
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Author: SteveG_CT
Date: 2012-05-23 23:58
oboeidaho wrote:
> SteveG - that is really generous of you! Just to get you some
> more info, my current barrel is 24mm inside measurement (to the
> clarinet) and 22mm to the mouthpiece. I have several other
> barrels that don't fit, so I'm guessing this is not the norm.
I just measured the sockets on the adjustable barrel. The socket for the upper joint measures 23.7mm diameter x 19.5mm deep. The mouthpiece socket is 22.4mm diameter x 17.7mm deep.
It looks like this barrel would be a tighter fit so it may or may not work depending on how tight the fit is on your current barrel.
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Author: oboeidaho
Date: 2012-05-31 15:46
Update - one of the other players in the pit had a 65mm Buffet barrel for her A clarinet which I used on the last show. Seemed to work amazingly well - must say I was a bit nervous using it without a real trial! But the throat tones in particular were much better, just seemed plop into pitch perfectly.
Tonight the other reed player is bringing a 66mm for me to try, since mine is sooo long I don't want to go too far the other way. They are both advocating Buffet barrels, possibly because they came with their instruments. Mine did too, just 85 years ago!
After reading the posts on Inbum's new barrel question and getting some ideas on other brands. Thanks for your help Steve!
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Author: Alseg
Date: 2012-05-31 17:29
The 65mm A-clarinet barrel that you tried has a different bore dimension than the 66mm Bb barrel that you will try next.
The bore of the A-clarinet barrel may have helped with the throat tones.
Do not be dismayed by the length of the barrel that came with the instrument. Barrels for that era varied greatly. The original owner might have had an unusual mouthpiece, or other factors.
Sounds like a fun project.
Who knows......you may wind up with a 66mm A-barrel (or similar combination ) working the best for you. Platypus anyone?
Allan
Former creator of CUSTOM CLARINET TUNING BARRELS by DR. ALLAN SEGAL
-Where the Sound Matters Most(tm)-
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2012-05-31 20:09
Fear not the platypus! My current Fav Bb Clarinet is a multinational platypus, comprising an English body, a French barrel, and an Italian mouthpiece with an American ligature. They all seem to get along fine together at A-440.
Seriously, nobody should have any concerns about trying every possible barrel that more or less fits the instrument, to see how well it works pitch-wise and response-wise. There is nothing sacred about the barrel that came with the clarinet, or another barrel of the same brand as the clarinet, or whether a barrel is sold for Bb or A clarinet use.
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Author: Alseg
Date: 2012-05-31 20:42
But Never Ever swap out the C# key while in a car.
anyone? anyone?
Former creator of CUSTOM CLARINET TUNING BARRELS by DR. ALLAN SEGAL
-Where the Sound Matters Most(tm)-
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