 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: JamesOrlandoGarcia
Date: 2014-05-14 22:46
I've had some issues develop over time that lead me to believe I'm having some register vent issues.
Throat Bb is abnormally stuffy and flat. Clarion D, C, B get progressively flatter and sometimes there can be bubbles heard.
Now I think I can clean out my register tube but what about the chances that the tube itself isn't sealing, how do I verify myself that it is sealing?
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Author: AAAClarinet
Date: 2014-05-14 22:50
I'm no expert, but it sounds as though the register key is not open enough. Just a thought.
AAAClarinet
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Author: Caroline Smale
Date: 2014-05-14 22:56
Remove key
Plug speaker tube with slightly tapered wood or plastic dowel (or even a small plug of blutac.
cover holes as normal and end on top joint with either a plug or your hand
suck air out of top of joint and see if it maintains a good vacuum.
This of course also requires all your pads to be seating 100%
I don't think I have ever come across a leak between speaker tube and body however between thumb bush/body and between finger hole insert/body (in cases when clarinet has separate inserts) this is quite common.
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Author: TomS
Date: 2014-05-15 00:22
You probably have crud in your register vent tube. Clean it with a pipe cleaner and alcohol. You may also have problems with the pad not opening enough ... I like to use a cork pad on this and taper the edges with a emery board, so the cork pad kinda looks like a volcano once sanded.
The "pinch" B-flat is usually stuffy anyway ... I use the side fingering or usually a resonance fingering.
The size and placement of the register vent tube and it's diameter and length is a very touchy subject. I've had to play with mine as a compromise between "under-toning" of clarion A and stuffy pinch B-flat.
Tom
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2014-05-15 09:53
>> Clarion D, C, B get progressively flatter and sometimes there can be bubbles heard. <<
If you hear bubbling in those notes then it's usually from water inside the register vent. Unless you hold the clarinet in ways to let water from the bore continue into the vent (and it has to be pretty specific and unusual to do that), the water is just the moisture that in the air inside the vent, just like a lot of the water in the bore.
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2014-05-16 00:51
Yes, the tube can leak - the test is to take off all of the keys and dunk the clarinet body in water with all of the holes plugged and the mag machine on - any bubble means it leaks
I had that done on my C (hard rubber) Clarinet.
Easy to seal with beeswax.
I was the distributor of the Galper register key/tune when it was in production.
http://www.SkypeClarinetLessons.com
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2014-05-16 00:53
However, more often there is dirt in the register tube - use a cocktail straw to scrape the inside of the tube (just take off the register key, not the tube, and put the small straw into the hole.
A major repairman missed a big glob of dirt in a student's Selmer Signature, that I got out with the straw - he used a pipe cleaner, which missed a bit.
I got lucky....
http://www.SkypeClarinetLessons.com
Post Edited (2014-05-16 00:53)
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Author: BartHx
Date: 2014-05-17 00:04
I asked my dentist to save a variety of his old tools rather than throwing them out. Since they are metal, they have to be used VERY CAREFULLY. However, sometimes they are the only thing that will get that little bit of gunk out of the spot that nothing else will reach.
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Author: Caroline Smale
Date: 2014-05-17 00:29
Vent tubes come in many internal shapes, parallel - tapered - hour glass etc.
In some cases when the tube has deeply hardened deposits it is only by removing tube that these can be completely removed, preferably by a competent tech.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2014-05-17 00:49
Mineral deposite can be removed by soaking the speaker tube in vinegar - that won't cause any harm that some strong acids can if it's left in too long.
If it's a Buffet clarinet, chances are the speaker tube will drop out easily once the speaker key has been removed (use a wooden dowel or thin plastic rod to push it out from the inside). More recent Buffet speaker tubes are a stepped design (larger diameter at the top like a bolt in profile) which are glued in pretty well, so not so easy to remove them unlike toe earlier type with slightly tapered sides.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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