 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: jdbassplayer
Date: 2016-06-04 05:08
Is there a standard method for making a clarinet bell flatter? I have a clarinet where the note that issues out of the bell is very sharp. I was thinking of using a tuning crescent in the bell but I feel like other techs would frown upon this. Anyone got any ideas?
Thanks!
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2016-06-04 05:45
That's odd as the low E is usually flat on most clarinets so the upper register B is in tune.
Is that with the original bell?
The only immediate remedy is to pull the bell out by around half way on the tenon to gain more length to flatten the low E and upper B, but if it's a loose fit on the tenon it'll keep going back all the way on when you put your clarinet on a stand or if it's really loose, then it can fall off.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: donald
Date: 2016-06-04 05:51
another way is to put material in the bell- a ring of blue tack or putty... this often gives a little more focus to notes further up the instrument, but complicates putting it on an instrument stand
Now time to add a bit of history....
- many years ago a colleague of mine showed me a Leblanc L200, he had played this instrument for a concerto performance of the Finzi Concerto (a fine performance, for many years I had a cassette tape recording of this concert that was my only version of this, I far preferred it to the commercial recordings available at the time). The bell had been filled in with putty to flatten mid line B, no explanation was given as to why this was done instead of pulling out the bell.
- I had a Buffet Festival A clarinet that I bought from an orchestral player in USA, it had been tuned by Guy Chadash, and mid line B was super sharp as GC had for some reason shortened the lower joint. Filling in the bell flattened this note and gave the instrument a more concentrated/focussed sound (it was a very free blowing, but "empty", clarinet until this was done). It's no secret that creating a choke at the bell joint is a deliberate ploy that Buffet use for their R13, so no surprise that this would change the sound. I sold that clarinet to a friend who really liked it and told me she regretting passing it on a few years later, she played it in professional orchestra with the bell filled in.
Post Edited (2016-06-04 07:35)
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2016-06-04 18:52
That is strange to be sharp instead of flat. Assuming you're middle tuning B is not flat to you could just pull the bell out. I've never heard of the low E being sharp and the 12th higher being in tune. You could try some after market bells like the Backuns or others.
ESP eddiesclarinet.com
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Author: ruben
Date: 2016-06-04 23:59
Ed: Strange indeed. When I was a youngster, a clarinet teacher of mine (in your part of the country!) put a Bundy bell on his Selmer Series 9 clarinet and it worked miracles in raising the low E and F and the 12th were in tune too. I seem to recall this (plastic) bell had a rather triangular shape to it (less flare than on an ordinary bell). I'd like to get my hands on one and make one in decent wood and see what happens.
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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Author: donald
Date: 2016-06-06 08:17
Ruben- go on the auction site known as XXXy and look for "Mazzeo Bundy" to see if those bells are what you describe... if so it's pretty easy to get hold of one, though copying it is more problematic (the exterior is easy to copy, the interior dimensions less so)
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2016-06-06 10:03
The Mazzeo Bundy bell uses a different tenon. Wouldn't fit.
Tony F.
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Author: samoma1
Date: 2016-06-06 11:46
I don't find this to be strange, as the low E on my Libertas clarinet is so sharp that there's no way I can lip it down to be in tune with the rest of the clarinet (at A440). So I'm also very keen to see suggestions for a way to get it down.
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Author: Dibbs
Date: 2016-06-06 18:10
As others have said, a sharp bottom E is very unusual. Are you sure that the very bottom hole is closing properly? That could cause it.
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Author: ruben
Date: 2016-06-06 23:18
Donald: Thank you for the information! I was unaware of the existence of the Mazzeo bell. The shape is what I remembered from the old Bundy band instruments for beginners. I have also understood that it uses very thin wood; the anti-Backun, so to speak. We will experiment with that concept; a thin-walled bell rather than a thick walled one. The proof of the pudding is in the eating, after all.
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2016-06-07 03:46
I use a Mazzeo bell on my Series 9 full Boehm A as it's much lighter than the regular bell. But I am nervous of using it with a clarinet stand and placing it down very gingerly as I don't want to split it.
They get increasingly thinner walled as they flare out. The outside shape on the Series 9 Mazzeo bell has a slight curve to it, but I think the earlier Mazzeo bells for Mazzeo system CTs were straight-sided.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: jdbassplayer
Date: 2016-06-07 04:45
Thanks for all the replies! I ended up making a small ring of epoxy putty and putting it in the bell which did the trick.
For all of you mentioning that a sharp low E is uncommon, I should probably have mentioned that it is a Bb basset clarinet:
http://m.imgur.com/a/DyazP
-Jdbassplayer
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Author: ruben
Date: 2016-06-07 15:48
Chris P: -very interesting! How would you say this thin-walled, novel-shaped bell affects tone? Does it impart a certain quality throughout the instrument? Thank you.
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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