Author: lmliberson
Date: 2022-08-21 22:03
Interesting conversation here.
Against my better judgement to even contribute here, I have a few observations (whether you want to hear them or not) but the one thing we do not know is what kind of player the original poster is and what kind of experience this person has with the Eb clarinet, an animal quite different from its larger brother. So, with that in mind (or, I guess, not in mind?)…
1. Seems as if the first issue is buying such an instrument from Amazon. What instrument was this? What did you know about it before purchasing it? And, btw, if an instrument is playing a quarter tone flat, well, it’s hardly what I would refer to as a “beautiful” instrument. As stevesklar just mentioned, you could (and probably should) simply return it.
2. If your experience is limited on Eb, it’s more than possible that you don’t know how to voice it correctly and that possibly could be a factor in the pitch problems you have. Also, your embouchure just might not be up to par, not to mention breath support and other fundamentals. These are things you haven’t mentioned.
3. Looking for a shorter barrel isn’t the answer as it won’t address other problems in your playing and will affect the scale unevenly. Cutting off a barrel is just as silly, imo. Doing either one of these things is only ignoring shortcomings in your playing (poor embouchure, use of the air, etc.). What’s more important is finding a good mouthpiece/reed combination (starting with a good mouthpiece first!) on which to make an adequate sound and continue from there. Anyway, you never mentioned the length of the barrel!
4. Drilling holes? Seriously? Laughable, at best. Again, fix your playing and/or find an adequate instrument. In general, you shouldn’t need to be doing anything that outlandish or radical as some of these suggestions.
5. A harder reed? Maybe, depending on the mouthpiece - should it be a half-decent one, that is.
6. Again, you haven’t told us anything about your experience and level of playing. However, the best suggestion here was to practice and continuing to learn how to approach and play the Eb clarinet correctly.
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The Clarinet BBoard
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