 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Morrigan
Date: 2016-02-10 19:34
Hi all,
I tried my teacher's Black Diamond on his recommendation of them (he's playing on one full-time) and he said the sound I was making on it was great. I went to Howarths in London, tried a few, picked one out, despite me feeling that it's quite a buzzy, fluffy sound.
So a couple of hours later I tried it out in an orchestra rehearsal in a moderately sized concert hall and I couldn't believe the sound it made! Somehow it seems to be bright and dark at the same time, a quality I really like. It had great projection and seemed to allow for heaps of control with not only dynamics but timbre as well.
The two issues I have are primarily that it is FLAT! Flat to the point where both instruments are pushed all the way in, and I have to make an effort to keep the pitch up. It's much worse on the A and manageable on the Bb. Has anyone else had this? I also play on a B40 13 which has fantastic pitch.
The second is that in a practice room, and in less-than-ideal acoustics, I hate the sound. It's all fluff and fuzz. BUT I can't help but think, does it matter how I sound close up? How satisfied will I be not liking my sound, but knowing that it sounds better from a distance?
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Author: Jeroen
Date: 2016-02-10 19:42
Your review makes me anxious to try it also!
The projected sound is of course more important than the sound close up. How does it project in a smaller room for e.g. chamber music?
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2016-02-10 19:53
Intonation is more important than everything else combined. As Keith Stein said, a mouthpiece that plays out of tune is worthless, regardless of how well it may play otherwise.
However, a shorter barrel might help.
Ken Shaw
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Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2016-02-10 22:08
Morrigan wrote:
> So a couple of hours later I tried it out in an orchestra
> rehearsal in a moderately sized concert hall ...
>
> The two issues I have are primarily that it is FLAT! Flat to
> the point where both instruments are pushed all the way in, and
> I have to make an effort to keep the pitch up.
Your teacher is playing on it full time and, presumably, not having the same struggle. But he's playing on *his* instrument and barrel. So, apparently, he's found a solution, or it was never a problem to begin with on his setup. Find out what he's using with the mouthpiece.
>
> The second is that in a practice room, and in less-than-ideal
> acoustics, I hate the sound. It's all fluff and fuzz. BUT I
> can't help but think, does it matter how I sound close up?
Well, it does, to an an extent - not so much the tone quality itself, but the response, because that affects a great many other parts of your technique. But, in conjunction with what I wrote above, you might ask your teacher what he thinks of the reeds you're playing on the mouthpiece - not the strength and brand, but the actual ones you're using every day.
When I've had the reaction of not liking what was coming out in a small practice room, it generally has turned out that when I play in a bigger space the room ambiance mitigates response problems that, when I think more carefully about things, I realize are not confined to the practice room. I just don't notice them as much. You may be dealing with poorly balanced reeds or reeds that aren't quite matched to the mouthpiece that sound better in a bigger room but still aren't responding as cleanly as they might.
Karl
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Author: sonicbang
Date: 2016-02-11 03:56
'...feeling that it's quite a buzzy, fluffy sound...'
It makes me think maybe the reed strength is not appropriate.
Mark
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