 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: musica
Date: 2012-09-13 20:43
Very fuzzy sounding on my Buffet
Festival clarinet, checked pad &
not worn or cracked, key opening,
seems, okay and tone hole clean.
Is this a problem in the Festival
clarinet and one I could trust with
a competent repair tech?
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2012-09-13 20:54
How much do you use this key?
On Buffets the LH sliver Eb/Bb key tonehole is slightly higher up the joint and smaller in diameter than the RH side Eb/Bb key tonehole, so that could account for the poorer tone quality.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Jim22
Date: 2012-09-14 00:59
I have the same issue on an old bay state clarinet. I assumed it was under vented, but maybe not.
So I have a noob question from a flutist just starting on clarinet: Isn't the sliver key the "normal" way to play these notes?
Jim C.
CT, USA
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2012-09-14 01:12
The side key fingering is the best in both registers whereas the long fingering (xoo|xoo or xoo|oxo) is best in the upper register for Bb as it's in tune - as a low register Eb it's on the sharp side, so only useful in fast passages.
The 'sliver' key fingering is only useful in chromatics - you'll never get a clean C-Eb/G-Bb interval with it which is where the side key fingering is better suited, but for many players it gets in the way. I don't use it at all as I find it awkward and have disabled it on my clarinets by plugging up the tonehole so it doesn't cause any grief if I accidentally catch it.
If you're a flautist then you'd be used to the long Bb fingering (and the thumb Bb), if you're a sax player you'd be used to the side, long and bis Bb fingerings.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Jim22
Date: 2012-09-14 02:02
Yes, I could easily get hooked on the long fingering, but I thought that was not typically used. I haven't even tried the side key. I don't like the sliver key. I will reconsider my approach. Thanks for the help! I have just scheduled my first lesson for Saturday. I'm afraid its going to be rather pathetic given my age, 48, and the fact that I am playing at about the sixth grade level.
Jim C.
CT, USA
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2012-09-14 07:13
It's the only key I never use on clarinet. The RH sliver key is a different matter entirely - it's a very useful chromatic B/F# key which is also present on saxes (except on some Martin bari saxes) and is important for altissimo D#/Eb to give the correct venting and tuning of this note on clarinets that arent equipped with the Acton vent (usually found on B&H 1010 and reform Boehm clarinets). This is the key I wish flutes had fitted, but there's a trill key in the way.
If you don't like the Eb/Bb sliver key - either the tone quality or just find it impractical, then don't use it as there are far more practical alternatives. It's a throwback to simple systems that only had this key for Eb and it's a pain sliding from C-Eb or back with this key.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: A Brady
Date: 2012-09-14 15:27
I know a number of players who have had this key "amputated" mostly for the reasons given above, and I generally discourage its use with students. That said, it does have a slightly different timbre and tuning than the standard side fingering, and therefore can be useful in certain playing situations. It has also been helpful to me when the side fingering is waterlogged and bubbling, giving me a clear fingering option to use for an exposed passage.
AB
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2012-09-14 15:39
Opposite to what Buffet do, B&H clarinets from the '50s have the LH Eb/Bb cross key tonehole slightly lower down the joint and larger in diameter compared to the RH side Eb/Bb tonehole, so maybe they considered the cross key to be the primary fingering for Eb as it was in the old simple/Albert system clarinets.
Later B&H (from the early '60s onwards) and older Selmers have both of the Eb/Bb toneholes directly opposite each other and the same diameter - on a Centered Tone they're both 6mm in diameter, so providing they both have the same venting, the tone quality should be identical with both the side and cross key fingerings.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
Post Edited (2012-09-14 17:49)
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Author: Wes
Date: 2012-09-14 20:21
Teachers of mine recommended use of all available Eb/Bb fingerings and I've been happy with that. Even some famous players have avoided use of the left Eb/Bb sliver key, however, and removed or plugged it. One would not mind sliding to the sliver key from G/C as one can do on older simple system clarinets with no right hand Eb/Bb key at all, if there were room for a wider sliver key.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2012-09-14 21:50
While I've disabled the sliver key completely, I do still have a very useful device on my clarinets that's not fitted to many clarinets nowadays which I use a lot - the forked Eb/Bb mechanism which is a ring for LH finger 3.
I use it nearly all the time and when I bought a plastic Yamaha for marching and other outdoor playing, I built and fitted a version of this mechanism to it:
http://www.clarinetperfection.com/galleryclar/Keywork/CP2/10.jpg
Unlike the long fingering which works best in the upper register, this fingering for Eb works in both! You play Eb or Bb as xox|ooo.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
Post Edited (2012-09-14 21:51)
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