 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: jdbassplayer
Date: 2023-05-10 21:33
To me this sounds like there is a leak. Leaks towards the lower end of the instrument generally cause more problems in the upper register than the lower register. On a well set up instrument you should be able to play from the lower register, across the break and into the upper register with relative ease. Depending on the quality of the instrument it may be worth sending it out to a repair tech that specializes in clarinet, as things like leveling tone holes or sealing thumb or register tubes are often not done by your average general band instrument repair technician, even though these can be major sources of leaks.
More information on the make and model might help, but as long as it is a relatively decent brand it should not be a problem.
-JDbassplayer
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2023-05-10 23:10
The mention of the Eb being one of the notes that is off is a bit unique. The typical leaks caused by wear are in the four big pads. If you do a suction test and get no "hold" at all, then YOUR leak is higher than the Eb/Ab pad. Your third finger is probably not the cause because you'd move it until it sealed. The sliver key is a possibility but I've almost never come across a leak there.
That leaves the rings and the top pad as the most likely culprits. To check the top pad (as a function of the bridge key), twist the bottom joint clockwise until the bridge keys do not meet and try those notes again. This would show if the bridge is keeping the top pad from coming down all the way. The last issue could be the rings being too high. With big fingers I keep the rings just about level with the top of the tone holes. If you have skinnier fingers that want to sit in the tone holes a bit, you may want the rings a little higer but the amount just depends on how your fingers sit in the tone holes.
...............Paul Aviles
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Author: Philip Caron
Date: 2023-05-11 15:54
If Paul's suggestions don't discover the problem, it may be a case of fingers just not positioning consistently to cover tone holes. A mirror might show this.
Or it **could** be voicing. One way to investigate that is to deliberately try to cause the squeaks by changing your voicing. If you can discover how to repeatedly cause the problem, then you will realize what not to do.
Or, seek out particular contexts where the problem repeats. For example, is it more prevalent when slurring to those notes over the break? Do you get it mostly when articulating? Etc.
Hmm . . . . How in tune are those problem notes? If they're way off, you might be unawarely attempting to correct.
P.s., this may just be me, but I would never think to attribute such symptoms to a barrel, or a mouthpiece either. If I didn't find a leak, I'd assume, strongly, that the problem was something I was doing.
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The Clarinet Pages
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![[B4]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/b4.gif)
to ![[D#5]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/eb5.gif)
range.![[E3]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/e3.gif)
to the ![[G#3]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/ab3.gif)
range is not an issue.