Author: awildman
Date: 2018-07-16 01:46
I acquired a wreck of an old German boxwood clarinet circa 1880. It's not particularly relevant, but I believe it to be pitched in C, low pitch. Of course it is currently unplayable, so I decided to do a few measurements just for fun. That's when I ran into the puzzle.
This clarinet seems to reverse taper significantly in the top joint. I don't have proper set of measuring tools, but a set of digital calipers and some math gave me a good approximation. Top opening approximately 13.8mm, and the bottom opening 13.2mm. Measuring the depth of the accessible toneholes all the way to the bottom (far inside wall) and doing math leads me to believe that the taper is pretty consistent from top to bottom. FWIW, the instrument seems to have been well played at one time, and only minor warping of the wood. It's really quite straight for old boxwood.
The lower section, on the other hand seems to widen immediately. The only measurement I can get on the bore is at the very top and it seems to be 14.3+.
So the bore goes from 13.8 to 13.2 over 9 inches of the upper section, and then goes to 14.3 immediately beyond that. This is rather different from my modern clarinet. What sort of impact might this have on tone and resistance etc?
Further, does anybody have suggestions for bore measuring tools/methods? My poor calipers just aren't made for inside measurements like this.
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The Clarinet BBoard
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