 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: ruben
Date: 2025-05-24 14:04
Low E below the staff and especially low F, are too flat. SOme clarinet makers have added an extra key and hole to pull up their pitch. The clarinet builder I worked for: JL Clarinettes had a hole in the bell and a key that you activated with your right thumb, by the thumb rest. The problem; an extra hole in the lower body could throw off evenness of tone (am I right in assuming this? -maybe not.) The mechanism that you manipulate with your right thumb is cumbersome. Wouldn't the solution be to design a bell that puts these notes in tune without throwing off the 12ths?
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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Author: Lillian826Pena
Date: 2025-05-24 15:04
You're correct: low E and F on clarinet are often flat, and while an extra key can help, its mechanism might be cumbersome and its hole could potentially affect tone consistency. You're also right to suggest a better bell design as a solution; the bell significantly influences the intonation of the lowest notes and good makers optimize it for this purpose. However, a perfect bell design alone might not fully compensate for all intonation challenges, leading some to incorporate additional keys for targeted pitch correction.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2025-05-24 17:04
The automatic low E/F correction mechanism fitted to some Selmer Recitals and Buffet Elites was operated by the speaker key (both makes had a slightly different configuration as to how it was linked to the speaker key), so the player didn't have to physically do anything else in order for the low E and F to be brought up to pitch.
Yamaha have a semi automatic low E/F correction mechanism operated by the right thumb as used on Oehler systems, but tweaked to work with the way the low E/B key is mounted on Boehm systems - the low E vent is a small vent just above the lower joint tenon shoulder with a W shaped insert in it to reduce hiss.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Mojo
Date: 2025-05-24 17:13
Bell design only allows you to adjust the trade off between a flat low E and a sharp B2. The automatic mechanism is the way to go, but adds cost. The thumb mechanism would be good for long held notes. If you remember to press it.
MojoMP.com
Mojo Mouthpiece Work LLC
MojoMouthpieceWork@yahoo.com
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