 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: leolollo
Date: 2020-02-23 02:47
Good morning.
I recently had a Yamaha YCL-62 clarinet (produced between 1979 and 1984).
The clarinet comes with a 66mm barrel, and plays with an excellent general intonation, with the diapason A = 440hz.
I am using the Rico Reserve X10 mouthpiece, and Reserve Classic 3.5 reed.
I would like to know if this clarinet was originally built for 440hz or 442hz tuning forks.
I emailed Yamaha but got no answer
If I wanted to play at 442hz could I get success by trying mouthpiece for european diapason (like a Vandoren 5RV lyre, or Reserve X10E) without changing the barrel?
I read somewhere in the forum that the bore of this clarinet is a bit narrower than the Buffet standard (ycl62 = 14.55mm). I think it is difficult to find barrels with the correct bore today.
I apologize if the language is not perfect. I write from Italy.
Thank you.
Post Edited (2020-02-23 02:50)
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Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2020-02-23 07:32
I don't like changing mouthpieces very often. For example the great Stanley Drucker still uses the same mouthpiece as he did when he was in school. So I'm not the only one who feels this way about mouthpieces.
You speak very good English. I hope one day I can be as good as you are once I learn Italian.
So change barrels. Drop down to a 65mm barrel and you should be OK.
Rico mouthpieces have too small of a bore. So the thing to do now would be to maybe find a better mouthpiece offering you more freedom with the sound quality and intonation. Also ease in articulation.
As for reeds this is a personal choice. Maybve try the Vandoren 56 models.
You may want to check out Guy Chadash barrels since they have the adjustable tuning. Then you can tune from 439 to about 443.
Designer of - Vintage 1940 Cicero Mouthpieces and the La Vecchia mouthpieces
Yamaha Artist 2015
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Author: m1964
Date: 2020-02-26 18:56
leolollo wrote:
"I recently had a Yamaha YCL-62 clarinet (produced between 1979 and 1984).
The clarinet comes with a 66mm barrel, and plays with an excellent general intonation, with the diapason A = 440hz.
I am using the Rico Reserve X10 mouthpiece, and Reserve Classic 3.5 reed.
I would like to know if this clarinet was originally built for 440hz or 442hz tuning forks.
I emailed Yamaha but got no answer
If I wanted to play at 442hz could I get success by trying mouthpiece for european diapason (like a Vandoren 5RV lyre, or Reserve X10E) without changing the barrel?
I read somewhere in the forum that the bore of this clarinet is a bit narrower than the Buffet standard (ycl62 = 14.55mm). I think it is difficult to find barrels with the correct bore today."
A good technician can make you a custom barrel of the proper inside diameter and lenght.
Simply cutting the existing barrel by 1 mm may not bring tuning up to 442hz.
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Author: leolollo
Date: 2020-03-15 00:20
Last week I selected a Vandoren mouthpiece at a local store.
I tried a B45 prof 88, an M30 prof88, and a BD5.
I bought the M30.
At the level of intonation with M30 I play maybe a few cents higher than X10. The difference is however less evident than what I have by putting a harder half measure reed.
However, I am enjoying the M30 of the X10 more, as for tone, volume and flexibility.
I also bought two Legere European Cut reeds. A 3.5, and a 3.75. For now I am trying the 3.5, alternating it with the Reserve Classic 3.5. With M30 Legere it performs very well, and I get a very similar sound to what I have with Reseve Classic reeds.
To play with dipason A442 I tried an ebonite barrel of my studio instrument. The barrel is 62mm long, making it come out a little from the tenon, and thus bringing it to a length of 63 / 64mm I get what it takes.
The sound obviously is not like that of the original barrel, but the internal intonation, and the relationships between the notes remain well manageable.
So I think I could try 63 / 64mm wooden barrels and see what happens.
At 100km from my house there is a shop with wooden barrels. Aidoni, Chadash, Moenning, Amati, Orsi, Icon.
I will have to go and try as soon as possible. Now in Italy we are in emergency for covid-19 ... so the test is certainly postponed to better times.
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Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2020-03-16 00:34
Good luck with that Corona-Virus. Italy was hit hard, you made the news in America.
When you test the mouthpieces bring your tuner and test EVERY note from low E to as high as you can play. The M30's and all of the M series mouthpieces were made to tune to 440. These are a tad bit longer compared to the BD5's. So keep an eye on the upper register notes if the pitch drops flat. A very common problem with Buffet R13 horns, but I don't know about your horn. Remember this too - brass and flutes tend to go sharp in the upper registers so if your horn and mouthpiece setup play flat a few 10ths you will have to bite to reach them. Needless to say we never want to bite. Never.
Stay SAFE my friend and write again soon just to let us know how you are doing.
Designer of - Vintage 1940 Cicero Mouthpieces and the La Vecchia mouthpieces
Yamaha Artist 2015
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Author: leolollo
Date: 2020-03-16 19:37
In the vandoren catalog the M30 mouthpiece is proposed (like all the other mouthpieces) in the traditional, prof88 and series13 variants. So I think M30 (not series 13) is currently built on the European diapason. However, I measured with the caliber M30 and Rico X10. M30 is slightly longer than X10. Unfortunately, I have no tools to measure the mouthpieces bore accurately.
I definitely like sound and intonation with the M30. Is the most important thing.
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Author: m1964
Date: 2020-03-17 03:15
I do not think you can compare MPs by their lengh to predict tuning, because tuning will depend on the internal "shape" of the mouthpiece, not only on its lenght.
You cannot compare barrels by their lenght either because, I believe, tuning depends on the relation between barrel lengh and inside diameter.
I wish you to stay healthy and avoid the covid-19.
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