Author: kehammel
Date: 2021-12-13 21:41
I have some LP Albert system clarinets that I like to play for folk music. Being from the 1920s, they should presumably be at A440. However, using a fairly open setup, which is what I like, I tend to be flat unless I use a shorter barrel. Typical would be a Fobes 4L mouthpiece and a Pilgerstorfer 3.0 reed.
Being mainly a bassoonist, I knew that my embouchure (double lip) and voicing were probably not optimal. I got a lot of useful tips from this forum, and incorporated them into my practicing (high tongue, pucker to support the reed from the sides, don't bite upwards). I then took an online clarinet lesson from a good teacher who's an occasional contributor to this forum. She said she was hearing "a relatively developed sound" and recommended even more support from the sides. So I've been working on that.
I'm still about 20 cents flat on some notes using the above setup, the lower clarion being most difficult. I then thought to try a mouthpiece more typical of the time those clarinets were made. I got a Vandoren 2RV in good condition, and voila, the pitch problems were mostly alleviated. I can't love this mouthpiece, though; it's just so closed. Also, I note that a more open mouthpiece gives me more room to lip notes up or down, which is useful given the tuning problems of these old cylindrical clarinets.
As a bassoonist, it seems logical to me that a more open reed (= tip aperture on clarinet mouthpiece), a longer reed (= facing length) or a larger reed internal volume (= deeper mouthpiece baffle, maybe?) would all tend to lower the pitch. How do players who really know what they're doing (not me, obviously!) manage more open setups?
Ken
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The Clarinet BBoard
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