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Re: Aftermarket Barrels: Impressions, Experiences, and Opinions

Author: ClaV
Date: 2016-04-21 22:37

Precise barrel parameters are well-known for good craftsmen in the field.

The problem with the alleged exact quantification is that it must be made for an exact specific mouthpiece (chamber volume, bore etc), a specific reed and the same way that reed is handled by a clarinetist; and it may be hardly feasible, given that the clarinet design itself is intrinsically a series of acoustic compromises.

Now for important facts - as far as understand, Moening inverse barrels had their success in adjusting twelfths for newer clarinets with older revered mouthpieces. That is the main barrel purpose - to match your frequency generator and your acoustic pipe

So the idea of using/trying different barrels is to improve tuning, to adjust resistance, and last (least or not) to modify the tone - intensity of overtones and the shape/width of the main harmonic and possibly other harmonics.

While sound perception is quite subjective, to me what Karl wrote has quite well-defined meaning (I spent some time with frequency analyzers to get the basis for this meaning) and then those simple words are nice and descriptive.

Going back to the main point of this topic - barrels: the best barrel is for you, for a specific reed for your mouthpiece and lastly your clarinet.
The best advice then is to try as much as you can and see what works the best. Is the difference perceptible and worth the effort/money?

Post Edited (2016-04-21 22:40)

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