 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: elec
Date: 2015-07-16 11:48
Hi my setup is:
Buffet R13, Vandoren M13 Lyre, Optimum ligature with Vandoren Traditional #3.5 reeds.
Upon playing with this set up, I have come to notice that my tone is very bright and in my opinion doesn't sound like I want it to. I tried my teacher's old barrel, the DEG AccuBore B66 which i thought improved my sound (looks cool too).
When asking about using another barrel, my teacher suggested that I should get another Buffet barrel. I was researching about the backun products, and my teacher advised me not to get their barrels as one of her students purchased one and was really poor quality. So, when I looked at Buffet barrels, I could see that they have their 'Icon' barrels which is the only Buffet branded barrels that I could find on their website and in the local music store.
Does anyone have any recommendations for a barrel that I could use?
If the local music stores, websites: preferably http://www.kbbmusic.co.nz/ and perhaps http://www.vanguardorchestral.co.nz/ (never tried), do not have any of your listed barrels, I would have to have some supplier that can ship to New Zealand.
Also, what is the main difference between the changes that a different barrel and a different bell could give to my sound? Wondering, because I thought barrels had a more drastic change but is still relatively much cheaper.
Thanks for your time
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Author: kdk
Date: 2015-07-16 17:13
First of all, you're likely to get a fairly confusing variety of responses to this question and you'll be left with, possibly, more information but still no firm guidance toward a decision.
The amount of effect a barrel has on a player's sound is debatable. I don't think anyone will argue that barrels have no effect on tone, but they contribute less than the player, the total clarinet, the mouthpiece, and the reed, more or less in that order. They certainly affect pitch and to some extent response, although mouthpiece and reed affect response more.
Bells, IMO (but I don't think I'll get much argument) has even less effect on your total sound than the barrel - it's all the way at the bottom of the instrument, while the barrel is at least near the beginning of the air column. A bell can affect the tone and intonation of the bottommost notes - the long chalumeau E, through maybe G and their twelfths.
So, if shipping is an issue (this has come up several times in posts from New Zealand and Australia), you might be better off trying to do what you can with whatever is available to you easily. In addition to the barrels Buffet makes for its instruments, there are Moennig-Buffet and Chadash-Buffet barrels on the market (I thought Buffet sold the Moennig barrels, maybe even makes them). These are variations on the "reverse taper" design Hans Moennig in Philadelphia used to add to Buffet barrels with hand reamers to improve intonation and tonal focus.
Karl
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Author: KenJarczyk
Date: 2015-07-16 17:34
First off, I can agree with Karl, a barrel will not " take you there" - but - it can get you started. A lot of times, I've found that most do a mouthpiece/barrel switch. I personally have a "thing" against Vandoren mouthpieces. I find most mass-produced mouthpieces just don't get it. That said, Buffet does market the Buffet branded Moennig and Chadash barrels. On my 1969 R13 I found great success with a Chadash barrel, but at the time I also switched to a Greg Smith "K" style mouthpiece. The Smith gave me the darker tone and a great response, the Chadash evened out the registers and made the throat tones even and unfuzzy. Since that time (15 years on the Smith) I have migrated to Clark Fobes mouthpieces, I really liked his CF+ mouthpiece, but after a year, no fault of the CF+, I have settled down to really liking the Fobes CWF mouthpiece. Nice dark tone, great even response, smooth from bottom to top! Still using the Chadash, too - 20 years now with that! I've purchased a lot of other barrels, gave them a shot, from Backun, to Fobes, and almost switched to the Fobes Cocobolla with the Hard-Rubber insert. But after much playing, the Chadash is still the winner on the R13. The Fobes Hard-Rubber insert barrel has found a permanent home on one of my Selmer clarinets, though. I do like the Fobes barrels very much, and I use them on my Buffet E-flat, Selmer Centered Tone, my 1976 Selmer 10, and my Selmer 10G "A" clarinets.
Ken Jarczyk
Woodwinds Specialist
Eb, C, Bb, A & Bass Clarinets
Soprano, Alto, Tenor & Baritone Saxophones
Flute, Alto Flute, Piccolo
Post Edited (2015-07-16 17:39)
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Author: TomS
Date: 2015-07-16 22:08
Won't fix much, but with careful selection might fix some things. Try several and pay careful attention to intonation. It's only a 2-3 cm contribution to the entire bore.
The barrel material may be about as important, in consideration of the clarinet sound, than it's bore specifications. My hypothesis is that the barrel and bell made a surprising difference because they are decoupled somewhat (facilitated by the cork gaskets) from the rest of the instrument and are freer to vibrate on their own, without being damped, clamped and restrained with keys, lips, ligatures and fingers. If you can eliminate the tenon rings, I suspect the differences are even more.
Just be careful and let your ears and tuner make the decision, rather than hype, cosmetics or peer pressure.
Tom
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Author: tylerleecutts
Date: 2015-07-16 23:01
Try using V12s, they are a bit darker than the blue box for me. Also the Optimum is one of the brightest ligatures I've tried out- although that won't make a very big difference.
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Author: ClaV
Date: 2015-07-17 02:38
Barrels definitely make much more difference than bells (bells with their direct effect only for the lowest notes are ultimately about fine twinkling of the tone and projection IMHO).
M13 lyre is a fairly close mouthpiece, so in my experience barrels would make a bit less difference. The best is to audition as many barrels as you can - and find your favourite by tuning, tone and resistance. A good barrel can make a nice difference, similar to a good mouthpiece and nice reed.
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