Author: Chris P
Date: 2018-09-16 20:52
Leblanc basset horns, altos and basses used that same type of throat Bb mechanism with the linkage arm from the throat A key - maybe it was a good idea to use it on soprano clarinets, but not all that good in practice. Perhaps it feels mushy because it hasn't been set up correctly what with ventings, spring balance or materials creating too much friction.
And with it linked to the throat A key, that will rule out using some special fingerings as the Bb vent will open instead of the speaker vent when both are held down together - you'd definitely lose one fingering for an A-B trill with this mechanism.
Vito, Normandy and Noblet altos and basses have the same type of mechanism employing separate speaker and throat Bb vents, but they only come into action depending if the left thumb is on or off the thumb ring, so less likely to cause grief with special fingerings using both throat A key and speaker key together.
But that means the Bb vent will open as soon as the left thumb is off the thumb tube with the speaker key held down, so that will ruin one fingering for the 'Rhapsody gliss' and one of the altissimo Bb fingerings.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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The Clarinet BBoard
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