 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Charles
Date: 2001-07-10 17:26
I have a very old (could be 100 yrs), but very nice Buffet C clarinet. This horn was fully overhauled and looks like just 3~4 years old horn. The barrel is tunable. This horn plays upper joint notes flat, (especially throat G, A) and octave notes sharp. Any help? Thanks in advance.
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Author: mw
Date: 2001-07-10 18:03
A (possibly) fiffernt Mouthpiece might be the answer. I would try & find one that was from that era. This doerwsn't sound like a problem that will be cured with pad height/reegulation. Best, mw
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2001-07-10 18:46
Charles -
My Buffet C is from 1928 and plays quite well in tune. In fact, I have to pull the barrel out a couple of millimeters, which puts it right at A-440. Check the chart at http://www.sneezy.org/clarinet/Equipment/HowOld/Buffet.html to find the age of yours.
Older Buffets don't play in tune by themselves. The pitch is quite flexible, and you have to play them in tune.
If the throat notes are flat, you need a shorter barrel, but that will also raise the upper twelfths. Chadash may be able to make a barrel that will bring them down. Also, try a couple of different mouthpieces, which may tune better. Try taking a little more mouthpiece, hold the instrument nearly vertical and drop your jaw down and back as you go higher.
Good luck.
Ken Shaw
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Author: jbutler
Date: 2001-07-10 20:46
I agree with Mark and Ken, I think you need to find a mouthpiece of the same era the clarinet was manufactured, or at least a more compatible one. I notice bad intonation with the old Conn saxophones, like the 10M, if you try to play them with a modern mouthpiece. Play them with an older round chamber mouthpiece and they behave quite well.
John
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2001-07-10 22:03
People have said on the Klarinet board that Chedeville mouthpieces were designed for pre-R-13 Buffets, and Kaspars were designed for R-13s. I'm not completely sure about that. I have one of each, and both old and new Buffets, and I haven't noticed that either mouthpiece favors one or the other.
Still, both Greg Smith, http://www.gregory-smith.com/ , and Rick Sayre, http://www.sneezy.org/clarinet/Resources/Retail.html#S , make good Chedeville reproductions, so it would be worth trying. Charles, you don't say what kind of mouthpiece you're playing now, but if it's not a hand-made one, a Smith or Sayer mouthpiece will probably be better (and better in tune).
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Charles
Date: 2001-07-10 22:09
Thanks all. I tried my Forbes, Beck mpc. Those are all hand made, as I believe. Anyway, I'll try to find vintage mpc and Chedeville. Thanks again.
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Author: mw
Date: 2001-07-10 23:04
Charles & Ken, help me out. arte we all on the same page on the TYPE of mouthpiece to be used. I would think it would be Eb or smaller? (the Eb sticks with me, don't know why ...) Thanks. mw
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Author: Gregory Smith
Date: 2001-07-11 03:43
Ken Shaw said:
People have said on the Klarinet board that Chedeville mouthpieces were designed for pre-R-13 Buffets, and Kaspars were designed for R-13s. I'm not completely sure about that. I have one of each, and both old and new Buffets, and I haven't noticed that either mouthpiece favors one or the other.
========================================================
You are absolutely right Ken. Where this information came from I'm not sure but it is not true.
G Smith
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2001-07-11 17:32
Greg -
I went through the Klarinet archives and couldn't find the statement that Chedeville mouthpiece were designed for pre-R-13 Buffets and Kaspars for the R-13, but there are a couple of postings that say it by implication.
Clark Fobes talked about the differences between Chedeville and the various Kaspar designs at http://www.sneezy.org/Databases/Logs/1996/02/000302.txt , saying that Chedevilles and early Kaspars were designed for the large-bore Selmers, and, though he didn't say so explicitly, he implied that the later Kaspars were designed for the smaller-bore R-13. I question his statement that most players in the first half of the 20th century used Selmers, though. From what I've been told by older players, most classical clarinetists played Buffets even before the introduction of the R-13.
The idea that Kaspar mouthpeices were designed differently from Chedevilles for use on the R-13 also seems implied in Alvin Swiney's posting at http://www.sneezy.org/Databases/Logs/1999/11/001043.txt .
Certainly the pre-R-13 Buffets play and tune differently from the R-13 and other current Buffet models, and presumably some of that requires accommodation in mouthpiece design.
Greg -- when someone comes to you with a pre-R-13 Buffet, a Selmer Centered Tone or a Leblanc LL (or Opus), do you find they need different mouthpiece dimensions or finishing tweaks?
Ken Shaw
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