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Re: Paticola "C" clarinet users?

Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2015-04-13 20:16

You may have read some of my old posts. My Patricola C clarinet does use a standard soprano ("Bb") clarinet mouthpiece.

However, if you do read anything I wrote, you'll see that I had a tremendous amount of difficulty with tuning between the chalumeau and clarion registers, which were considerably less than twelfths apart. So either the Chalumeau was very sharp or the clarion was very flat when the other was in tune. Sending it back to the factory didn't even get me an acknowledgement of the problem. They replaced a couple of pads my own tech had already replaced (presumably because they wren't original equipment pads) and sent it back (at my expense, I think both directions) with a note saying it played in tune for them and recommending a Vandoren traditional mouthpiece to bring up the clarion (which would have made the chalumeau even sharper).

I eventually got Morrie Backun to work on it (he contacted me after reading my posts) and Morrie did wonders with it, although there are still some quirky notes that need to be humored.

Please note that I bought this clarinet in 2007. They may well have improved their design since then. I do like the keywork and the sound and response of the instrument. But I would try an instrument you're considering and would stay away from anything with registers that don't tune well with each other (no matter what brand). An individual note here and there can be helped, but bad twelfths between registers is a design problem that will be very expensive to overcome.

Karl

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