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Re: Backun Q Series throat Bb

Author: SecondTry
Date: 2022-10-04 23:12

A point and a question:

Point: I think 2E is clearly reporting his opinion, which he is entitled to without fear of legal reprisal. Never did he say that all players or all Q series models have this problem.

I think in fairness to Mr. Backun though that, if I were in his shoes, I'd like people to say something akin to "my personal experience, on just two Backun clarinets I tried, YMMV, etc."

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This brings me to a point. Many of you know that the throat Bb on clarinets, at least the one played with the left hand pointer and thumb, rather than the one I prefer (when I have the luxury) where the left pointer presses the "A" lever and the right hand the side keys, possibly covering some holes the left hand for resonance/intonation is, well, not the best note of the clarinet. It's voicing and pitch often leave many players on many instruments wanting more, even after cleaning out venting pipes, etc.

I've been taught that part of these problems are attributable to the register key's double duty as a actuator of the throat Bb, and a register key. I've been taught that the register key's placement---like many keys on the clarinet--represents a compromise in tuning among similarly fingered notes.

I could have sworn at one point on this forum that I've run into discussions of Boehm clarinets that opened different vents when the register key was pressed, depending upon, I think, the position of other fingers: off the clarinet for a throat Bb, but on the instrument for, say, an E5 [E5]