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Stuffy Long B on Bass Clarinet

Author: kilo
Date: 2014-11-22 18:12

The long clarion B on my Yamaha 221 II doesn't "speak" the way the other notes around it do — it feels "reticent" and doesn't ring. There's no problem with the low E. I thought it might have something to do with the low Eb not opening far enough but if I remove the bell completely the sound doesn't improve. It's annoying because if I have an eighth or sixteenth note passage which crosses the break and returns, all the notes will be clear except for the B which tends to disappear.

I've tried voicing it differently but it never really sounds that strong. This is the only bass I've spent any time with so I don't know if it's common to other Yamahas, whether it's typical of basses in general, or it it's just specific to this particular instrument. I can understand the acoustic challenge which might make this note hard to play — trying to play Bb using the Eb and the register key doesn't work either — but the difference between the B and the C is so striking that I wondered if there might be a remedy.

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