 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: iplaytheclarinet
Date: 2021-07-15 00:18
I just graduated high school, and I plan to play clarinet in college this fall. A couple years ago I bought a used Buffet R13 clarinet and it worked great for a few months. But, one day it randomly started to play flat no matter what. Sometimes (especially in the altissimo range) it plays so flat that it registers as a different note. But, that is not always the case. Some days it plays fine but some days its awful.
I have tried different mouthpieces, reeds, and embouchures but it still plays consistently flat. I sent it in to a repair shop to have them look at it. They put new pads on it and fixed some screws but the problem is still there. I even had my band director look at it and we tried to troubleshoot it but we couldnt really pinpoint what the problem was. I was going to get it sent in again, but then covid happened and everything closed. This instrument has just been sitting in my closet since.
Does anyone know what could be happening? I spent a lot of money on it and I want to use it for college, and I hate that I havent been able to use it for almost 2 years. Should I just get it sent in again?
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Author: nellsonic
Date: 2021-07-15 02:15
Have you had another competent player try it? I wouldn't get send it back to the same shop. I'd find a good local lessons teacher and consult with them. They should be able to try the instrument to see if the problem is actually there, and if so, to refer you to a repair person who can actually get it sorted.
Anders
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Author: kdk
Date: 2021-07-15 04:57
Do you have a clarinet teacher?
Are you using this R13 full-time or are you mostly playing on another instrument? If you have another, do you have any problem with intonation on it?
I second nellsonic's suggestion to try to see if the problem follows the instrument (when someone else plays it). If it does, you need a competent repair person to work with it. If it doesn't, you need someone knowledgeable about clarinet playing to listen to you live in-person to try to track down the problem.
Karl
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Author: Ken Lagace
Date: 2021-07-15 06:12
Have you changed mouthpiece or barrel? If so, it might be the new problem.
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2021-07-15 06:46
If the issue is really mysterious, there may be some material that has become impacted in the undercutting of tone holes (this lowers pitch) perhaps during some attempt to bore oil or some such thing. It takes good tech to clean out gunk from undercut section of the tone holes (interior to the clarinet).
Just throwin' out ideas
.................Paul Aviles
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