 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: gatto
Date: 2017-09-30 19:02
I play RC Prestige B-flat and A-clarinets with a Black Diamond BD5 mouthpiece. The A is quite new, and I still have to adapt to it. The A is more resistant than the B-flat. On the B-flat I can use V.12 and V21 reeds in strengths 3.0 to 3.5, with preference to 3.5 for better altissimo. But on the A it seems that every reed of strength 3.5 is too strong. It also seems that each V21 reed of strength 3.0 is too strong. Most comfortable I feel with V.12 in 3.0 on the A.
Is this "normal"? Is there the general formula: the more resistant the lighter the reed?
In another thread I described that the register tube of the A will be made shorter. (This still is not done, is planned for the near future.) Will the resistance of the A also decrease with a shorter register tube?
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Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2017-09-30 19:37
gatto wrote:
> Is this "normal"? Is there the general formula: the more
> resistant the lighter the reed?
>
This is sometimes the case between an A and a Bb clarinet. The bores are slightly different, the lengths are slightly different and, if they aren't the same model clarinet (or maybe even if they are), the design itself will be slightly different. If the A is more resistant enough to make playing the harder reed difficult, then yes, it's common to use lighter reeds on the A. My two clarinets are pretty much equivalent in resistance, but if I'm playing a part that changes, I use a reed that plays well on the A and make any small accommodation I need to make to play that reed on the Bb. You don't want to be changing reeds every time you change clarinets.
Karl
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Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2017-09-30 23:31
The A clarinet may have some seal issues with the pads. Actually I pretty much would say with 100 percent certainty the horn is leaking. I hate the Quality Control of Buffet.
No - to answer your question. You should not have to change reeds, although the Buffet A clarinets are noted to be be more resistant. This is a major reason why I switched to Yamaha's. The CSVR's are kind of amazing. I can't really tell when I'm playing on an A or a Bb if the horns are setup correctly. The resistance is about the same. However with Buffet's there has always been a difference.
See a really good repairman to set up the horn. If you bought the horn new I can pretty much say that it leaks without hesitation. While you are at it have the octave key tube replaced or grounded down to about 1/4 its size. Take off a 1/4 of it. Be careful here. If you take off too much you can start to feel a hesitation in the upper register when you articulate. A delay when you tongue and then the note speaks. This is why the A tube is a shade longer compared to the Bb tube.
Another issue I have with Buffet's in general is if there are any wobbles in the joints you surely have an air leak, so have a new cork put on. I often make the cork wider at the joint by taking off some of the wood on the joint. There is often a lot of wood on the joint which is a mistake by Buffet. I use a lathe to cut this accurately. The cork should be as wide as possible, within reason, to assure a great seal. So the pads may all seal well, but you could have a bad leak between the joints, even at the mouthpiece cork site, if the mouthpiece wobbles you must get the cork replaced. If the barrels don't fit the mouthpiece, meaning one barrel to too tight and the other barrel is too large have a repairman turn the smaller barrel so both barrels are the same. The mouthpiece cannot ever wobble. Well none of the joints should ever wobble.
If anyone is using tape or something to cover the cork because the joint is lose your horn has a leak. It's that simple. Get it fixed NOW.
All of these problems will cause you to want to use softer reeds. Lastly what barrel are you using? Find a GREAT barrel. One that tunes well, mainly the 12ths. The standard Buffet barrels do not work very well. I prefer a reverse tapered barrel of about 0.15". But this is on an R13, so maybe try 0.10" first.
There are some really great barrel makers now. Guy Chadash is hard to talk with, but I do like his new barrel that has an adjustable tuning ring. It has a taper as well. It is $350 though. The material is nice and tunes well. Even with the Bb Yamaha I use. But his A barrels don't work on the A Yamaha's. They are also oversize so they don't fit in the case slot meant for your barrels. So look around, buy some, but make sure you can return them without paying for a restocking fee. Some stores charge 20 percent or more for a restocking fee if you return them. Guy's barrels have a nice ring to them. This I like a lot. They are live. Not dark and dead.
Designer of - Vintage 1940 Cicero Mouthpieces and the La Vecchia mouthpieces
Yamaha Artist 2015
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Author: Caroline Smale
Date: 2017-10-01 04:19
In choosing instruments the ideal is a "Matched Pair" where the clarinets are chosen to provide as nearly identical as possible
-resistance
-response
-flexibilty
-intonation tendenccies
-finger and key positions
-spring resistance
-ideally using the same barrel
etc etc
You want to be able to swap instruments mid piece with the minimal of disruption, reajustment and difficulty.
Using different mouthpieces and/or reeds on each instrument is a MAJOR problem.
Getting both your instruments set up to play is nearly the same as possible is a must..
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Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2017-10-01 05:41
Maybe I went into too much details. Caroline just said it best. The Yamaha's I play on are exactly what she just wrote.
The only difference is I use different barrels for each horn. Even when I played on Buffet's up until last year at about this time, it was hard to find matching barrels that tuned the same on both horns, it is surely possible of course.
Well done Caroline!
Designer of - Vintage 1940 Cicero Mouthpieces and the La Vecchia mouthpieces
Yamaha Artist 2015
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Author: gatto
Date: 2017-10-02 01:21
Some remarks to the answers of Bob and Caroline.
That my "A" has leaks is quite unlikely. When I chose it in the shop of my dealer, during a period of one and a half day, the dealer and repairs man (instrument maker) fixed (most of) my complaints, and he could not identify any leaks. (The only problem left was the LH clarion undertones, which turned later out as related to the long register tube, as I learned by googling around.) My hope is that after a change / treatment of the register tube the general behaviour of the clarinet will improve. (I recognize that the undertone problem descreases or even vanishes of I let the pad of the register key being closer to the register tube; but too much leads to a bad resonance of the throat B-flat.)
Bob, what do you mean by "There is often a lot of wood on the joint which is a mistake by Buffet."? My "A" shows a small gap (much less than a millimeter) between the lower joint tenon ring and the upper joint. Maybe this doesn't look esthetically nice, but I don't thinks this could be a source of leaks.
Barrels: the RC Prestige has the "feature" that by default there is a difference of 1 mm between the barrels of the "Bb" and the "A".
Matched pair: I bought my "A" almost 20 years later than my "Bb". I am just an amateur; at the end of last year I restarted to play after a break of 10 years. Of course, my technique (embouchure etc.) can be improved. At least the "A" seems to be more sensible to my non-perfect technique. At the first time a difference in the finger-feel of my new "A" was obviously different from my "Bb", which was not (only) due to the greater length. (The difference was much stronger with the Tosca "A" I also tested.) After some time this difference becomes less and less obvious to me. (Though I rarely use it, but I prefer the design of the LH pinky Es/As lever on my old "Bb"; which I find more decent in comparison with the new "curved" design on my "A".) I guess this has to do that the design of the RC Prestige slightly changed over the years (but I don't know for sure).
By the way, today I tried a stronger V21 3.5 again, and today my main difficulties were only in the altissimo. (The level of need of improvement is, of course, the hightest for the altissimo.) Even the register tube undertones described above today were not worse than with a lighter reed, though in general lighter reeds evidently yield less undertones.
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Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2017-10-03 05:30
Gatto - email me and I will send some pics. I don't know how to add pics on this site. Then you will understand.
Designer of - Vintage 1940 Cicero Mouthpieces and the La Vecchia mouthpieces
Yamaha Artist 2015
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Author: Jeroen
Date: 2017-10-03 12:57
Hi Gatto,
The RC Prestige A is quite more resistant than the Bb as is the case with almost all Buffet soprano clarinets. It is also new and your Bb is much older, increasing the difference in resistance.
As you are not adopted to the A yet, I would suggest to play it as much as possible. It just takes some time to get used to it. Use softer reeds indeed but you should also adjust your airstream to the different resistance. Wait with shortening the register tube. May be after a few months this is not necessary anymore. Chances are that you can increase reed strength also after a while.
However, there will always remain some difference in resistance.
I know people that choose a non-Prestige RC A clarinet because it's resistance is a better match with the RC Prestige Bb clarinet.
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Author: gatto
Date: 2017-10-04 22:35
Hi Jeroen,
thanks for your encouraging answer.
Couldn't it be that the higher resistance of the Buffet's A is a feature and not a "mistake", that is, done deliberately by Buffet? Assuming that the A should have a different tone color than the Bb (which is often intended/exploited by composers), this would make sense. (But I do not know whether the higher resistance contributes to such a tone characteristic.)
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Author: Caroline Smale
Date: 2017-10-04 23:19
Any difference in resistance between Buffet's A and Bb clarinets is extremely unlikely to be a "choice". There are far too many other far more important factors to consider and compromise on in designing a clarinet.
Mind you I wouldn't put it past there publicity department to make such a claim if this fact was brought to their notice. Making a virtue out of a weakness is a widely used commercial device.
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Author: Tom H
Date: 2017-10-05 08:33
I've always used the same reed for my Bb, A and C clarinets. Never heard of anyone doing otherwise, but apparently that is at times the case.
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