 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Skylar
Date: 2014-06-08 19:29
I am about to go to college, and I've been fortunate enough to own my own clarinet. I was wondering what kind of situation I was in when it came to my clarinet.
I own a Normandy 4 (Wood) Clarinet, it's in need of pad replacement on all the bottom joint pads and the C#/G# pad on the top joint, while there are no rips on the pads or the sides of them, they are yellowing and towards the E pad, browning a bit.
My lessons teacher suggested buying a Vandoren M30 mouthpiece because of my usual playing of Bass and Contraalto Clarinet, but at the moment I have a stock mouthpiece (and stock ligature) with no markings on it. My current reed is a 3 1/2 Vandoren Paris (blue box) but I'd like to transfer to the 3 1/2 Vandoren V12's (silver box)
Regarding notes and similar, I can play a 3 octave scale on most major scales, but it gets squeaky when I hit E, F and F#, before settling back on Altissimo G. I do not however have any experience playing on someone else's B-flat, and I wasn't sure if it was me or the horn, though the top chairs in my high school band rarely had trouble with those notes.
The main thing I'm getting at here is, is it worth overhauling? Or should I replace my horn entirely?
Post Edited (2014-06-08 19:42)
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Author: Ben Shaffer
Date: 2014-06-08 19:49
Heck Yeah, overhaul it!
I've got a Normandy 4 Horn I bought in an Antique Mall for $125.
It only needed some minor adjustments.
I bought a Hite Premier MP for $25 and use old basic Rico Reeds. This combination of Reed ,MP and clarinet seems to sound good and works well for me.
No problem hitting the High Notes either
No question there are better sounding Horns out there, but for what I have invested in this Horn I'm quite happy
Consider the overhaul, and a Hite MP, Rovner Light Ligature...not a lot invested then on your part and if you have the urge you can always buy something else later
Ben Shaffer
Post Edited (2014-06-08 20:57)
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2014-06-08 20:34
Fading pads are only one sign that a clarinet needs an overhaul. There are so many other things that potentially need attention.
And by all means, yes, have it serviced. These are fine instruments.
--
Ben
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Author: tylerleecutts
Date: 2014-06-08 20:41
I used a Normandy 4 before I got my R13. It brought me a lot of success and good times in high school- a great instrument. A good overhaul will serve it very well. Getting a M30 as your teacher suggests will help you out too- and for a bit under 100.00.
The ligature isn't that big of a deal- some people "upgrade" their ligature and go back to what they were using before.
About reeds- going from the Traditional Vandorens to the V12s isn't really an upgrade. Each reed is built to serve a different purpose, to different facings. In short, a Traditional reed may sound the best out of the three cuts on one mouthpiece, but on another you may need a Rue Lepic. The choices that Vandoren offers are meant to serve different playing needs, but one cut isn't really better than the other.
The altissimo register is tricky- its hard to tell whether any problems that you have could be the reed, mouthpiece, technique, or a repad somewhere. If you are certain your voicing and tongue position and air flow are correct, then it could be your equipment.
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Author: Steven Ocone
Date: 2014-06-08 21:47
As a repair tech I often get these questions. The clarinet is worth repairing, but maybe not by you. You didn't mention what you will be studying or what you desire to do with music in the future. This may be a good time to upgrade your instrument.
Steve Ocone
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Author: Wes
Date: 2014-06-09 00:55
Well, I played through college on a great Noblet clarinet!
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Author: Ursa
Date: 2014-06-09 18:21
It all depends on what you're planning on doing at college. If you're going to be sticking with the harmony clarinets as your primary performance instruments, overhauling the Normandy 4 likely makes good sense.
Entering college as a Performance major on soprano clarinet, on the other hand, will eventually require an upgraded clarinet. In that case, you could make a case for overhauling your Normandy for use as a dependable backup clarinet.
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Author: Skylar
Date: 2014-06-09 19:05
I am planning on sticking to harmony clarinets for performance, and I'm planning on a Music Ed. major
So, overhaul it and replace the mouthpiece seems to be the general consensus.
Thank you all for your help!
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Author: Ursa
Date: 2014-06-09 19:40
Thanks for the update, Skylar! A Normandy with a good overhaul and a mouthpiece upgrade will serve you well as a harmony clarinetist pursuing a BME.
Get the overhaul done first and all the post-overhaul adjustments completed before you set out to get a new mouthpiece. You will want to pay careful attention to the tuning of your throat tones when selecting a mouthpiece for a Normandy--a mismatched mouthpiece can cause awful sharpness in that range of the instrument, in my experience with Normandys.
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Author: Skylar
Date: 2014-06-09 22:23
Final update I think, I just sent the horn in to have the poor condition pads replaced and the bell joint recorked. I'm going to be out of a horn for the rest of the month, but it'll be worth it in the end.
Once again thanks for all your help everyone!
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