 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Ben Shaffer
Date: 2017-02-02 06:57
I'm looking for a MP that pitches spot on or a little sharp.
I've got a number of MP's that I use with my LeBlanc Normandy and they all pitch flat 5 cents down to 20 cents.
The offending MP's are a VD M15 lyre 88, a standard VD M13, a Hite Artist as well as a WWBW Vito 2.
I do have a crappo plastic MP that pitches spot on, but the tone and ease of playing it leave a lot to be desired.
When comparing the crappo MP to the others they all appear to look much the same.
Incidentally the Barrel on the Normandy is 66MM.
I've actually tried both a 65 and 64 mm Barrel, but some intonation problems became painfully evident when playing with several bands.
I've heard the Selmer HS* tends to pitch somewhat sharp, could anyone verify that?
Any MP suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Or how flat is acceptable when playing with a group of 15 brass and woodwinds?
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Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2017-02-02 08:13
Isn't this the same question you asked "how flat is 2 flat?"
First, Vandoren only makes M13 in Series 13 Profile 88, so it and the M15 lyre will probably tune the same.
With all that hardware that plays flat for you, have you considered the possibilities that either (a) the explanation for your flat pitch is in the instrument itself and not the mouthpieces or barrels or (b) something in the way you approach sound production is pushing the pitch down?
How flat is acceptable depends on how much you can tolerate and how much your band mates can tolerate. Any amount of flatness that is audible could be considered too much. If it's "painfully evident" then it's something that needs to be corrected. But your fixation on only one part of the system (two if you consider the mouthpiece and the barrel as separate - they really aren't) misses other possibilities. When you say "some [italics mine] intonation problems became painfully evident," you seem to imply that only some notes are out of tune. If that's the case, it's far more likely to be a problem with the clarinet.
I doubt if any mouthpiece that plays 5-20 cents sharp (to make up for your flatness) would sell very well, so I suspect that looking for a mouthpiece to solve this problem is probably futile.
Have someone else play your setup with his/her own mouthpiece. Play someone else's setup with your mouthpiece. Does the pitch problem stay with you or follow the clarinet? If it follows the clarinet, then get a good tech to figure out why your clarinet is so flat (or why specific notes are a problem). If it stays with you, arrange a couple of lessons with a good clarinet teacher and find out what you're doing to bring the pitch down so far.
Karl
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Author: Burt
Date: 2017-02-02 18:28
A European mouthpiece tuned for 442Hz is about 8 cents sharp.
If your throat tones are much flatter than the other notes, consider having your mouthpiece shortened at the cork end. A good tech should be able to determine how much to shorten the mouthpiece and to do the work. Mike Elswick in Virginia shortened my M30 by 2mm so I could stick with my present barrel.
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Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2017-02-02 19:51
Burt wrote:
> A European mouthpiece tuned for 442Hz is about 8 cents sharp.
>
> If your throat tones are much flatter than the other notes,
> consider having your mouthpiece shortened at the cork end.
If it were only the throat notes and you really like the mouthpiece, those notes can be individually tuned to a great extent. Anything in the chalumeau above F4 doesn't need to be compromised with the twelfth above, so you have a lot more leeway.
I would guess from experience that your bands are not tuning as low as A=440. That's not what generally happens with brass and saxes, especially after they've warmed up. So, what you tune to at home with your tuner and what you need in those bands may be quite different. You started out saying you are as much as 20 cents lower than 440 on your tuner (but using tuning notes that are at least mildly questionable). Are we still talking about that, or is the problem that you need to come up to match the bands' pitch?
As discussed before, you can't just shorten the end of the mouthpiece tenon to make it shorter. You also have to have the shoulder at the top of the tenon turned back. But even if you have it done properly, you will change the tone characteristics of the mouthpiece.
Karl
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