 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Gudi
Date: 2023-09-27 13:35
I play on a boosey and hawkes 1010 pair (~1964) and a Peter Eaton mouthpiece. Whenever the Bb clarinet is properly warmed up, it is incredibly sharp, to the point where I have to pull out the bell as well as the barrel, as the throat notes then start going out of tune. Even then it is barely in tune. It is a real problem when playing in a group or with a piano, as I’m struggling to lip it all down enough to be in tune. Is there any way to help with this?
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Author: ebonite
Date: 2023-09-27 14:07
Just to confirm: Does the Eaton mouthpiece have a 1010 bore?
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2023-09-27 15:54
1010s are tuned to a higher (and older?) European pitch standard. I used a pair here in the States for awhile but with the longest barrels available and still needed to pull out considerably. Not a good match for US standards.
............Paul Aviles
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2023-09-27 16:47
Is the sharpness confined to just the throat notes or is it sharp all through the range? I recently sold a 1010 that tuned very well throughout the range, but some years ago I had one that was sharp and defied my efforts to get it in tune without pulling to the point of instability. I eventually made a barrel specific to the instrument which resolved the problem. The instrument wasn't always sharp, that started following a repad. (Cork on the upper joint, brown leather on the lower joint). I thought about repadding it again but decided that selling it was a better option.
Tony F.
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Author: EACLT
Date: 2023-09-27 16:53
I've heard that the Eaton mouthpieces tune quite sharp, maybe try a different mouthpiece?
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2023-09-27 17:07
Whatever mouthpiece you use, it is required that it be bored specifically for the 1010 (cylindrical bore NOT conical like all others). That's why the first question was about the mouthpiece. A non-1010 mouthpiece will have incredibly weird internal pitch problems.
.............Paul Aviles
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Author: Hurstfarm
Date: 2023-09-27 23:28
I can’t help much with the starting question as each instrument is different, but having “grown up” with 1010s I can say confidently that they weren’t designed to tune to a high pitch - particularly as UK orchestras had mostly transitioned to A=440 before WW2. I generally needed the longer (66mm) barrel for mine, but had no systematic tuning problems with that. 1010s had a reputation for slightly wayward intonation for some notes though, and players learned to compensate through a combination of embouchure and fingering adjustments. A couple of decades later I switched to Peter Eaton Elites, which were like better made 1010s with most of the intonation quirks miraculously erased!
I’d also take issue with the suggestion that Eaton mouthpieces generally tune sharp. I used his mouthpieces on my 1010s and my Elites with no such problems, so as ever people’s experience to the contrary (which I’m not questioning) is probably down to the coupling of particular mouthpieces and instruments. I don’t think your problem here (paraphrasing) is that “1010s play sharp” compounded by “Eaton mouthpieces play sharp”. Not much help I know, but I fear it’s not that simple!
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2023-09-27 23:38
I can say definitively the Boosey's play as sharp as my Wurlitzer 100Cs. I believe German pitch back in the 1980s was closer to 445. Can't say for sure what I was told about the 1010s but they played in the stratosphere regardless of what the pitch was supposed to be in England at the time (purchased the Booseys in 1978).
..............Paul Aviles
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Author: Gudi
Date: 2023-09-28 01:44
It’s throughout the range. Unfortunately my woodworking skills are non existent so a custom barrel won’t do the trick! I know that Hanson do wide bore barrels- would they be a potential solution or was your barrel longer than the ones they sell?
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Author: Gudi
Date: 2023-09-28 01:46
I also have an old bored out Vandoren mouthpiece, but that also has similar issues.
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Author: Gudi
Date: 2023-09-28 01:47
The bore is definitely correct- the mouthpiece is an elite so is designed with the wide bore in mind.
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Author: Gudi
Date: 2023-09-28 01:51
Is it likely to be an embouchure issue then? I use the 66mm barrel but that doesn’t solve the issue. I’m sure it’s not the mouth piece, like you said, as the tuning is off with others as well. Unfortunately My funds do not stretch to a pair of
Peter Eatons, so I’ll have to try and make the 1010s work.
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Author: dorjepismo ★2017
Date: 2023-09-28 10:06
Well, I played a set of late 1010s--made shortly before they stopped making them--for several years, and I truly wish mine had played sharp. I played both Eatons and Pillingers, and the tuning was about the same. I'm sure I could have gotten "442" mouthpieces from either maker, but I didn't and probably should have. Maybe that's what you got, or maybe mouth-size is destiny, and we're all stuck with what we were born with. Either way, your problem is more easily solved than mine!
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Author: Jeroen
Date: 2023-09-28 13:30
The few 1010s I have played dated from around 1975 - 1980. They were certainly not that sharp, the thoat register being very stable (and rather low).
The only way to play your 1010 to a lower pitch is to pull the barrel a lot. Try to optimize the internal tuning by pulling also the middle and bottom joint. You could also try to play softer reeds.
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Author: Reformed
Date: 2023-09-28 18:51
Just my two penn'orth on this subject.
The current widely adopted way of playing with high tongue in a "E" position, firm bite on the mouthpiece and hard reeds all tend to raise pitch.
Many, but not all, British and 1010 players of the period had relaxed thoats with an "AH" positioned tongue and soft reeds (e.g. Vandoren originals at 2.5). This all helped correction of the tuning.
There were of exceptions.
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