 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Filipe
Date: 2001-10-22 21:13
when i rented an oboe about a month ago, I noticed that its bell had two holes on it. So one day I put tape over the holes and the notes near the bell didn't come out. What's the purpose for those holes?? how come the clarinet doesn't have one of those????
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Author: Douglas
Date: 2001-10-22 21:28
An oboe with a complete conservatory mechanism has a range to low Bb. Student oboes, usually the plastic sort, omit the low Bb and have a range only to low B. When manufacturers first started making student oboes only to low B, they tried a shorter bell for the shortened range, but this threw everything off for the rest of the oboe. They then started producing oboes with the correct length bell, but with vent holes in the bell for correct tuning for the bottom range. I'll just bet the oboe you rented was plastic and a Bundy/Signet or a Linton. The clarinet doesn't have an equivalent mechanical situation, so no holes in the bell. The Schmidt reform Boehm clarinet has been produced with a single hole in the bell to allow a more free sound in the bottom register with the German bore.
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Author: Aaron
Date: 2001-10-22 21:37
To the extent of my knowing the holes in the bell of the oboe act as a vent for the lowest note/notes of the oboe. The lower the notes, the larger and longer the wave-lengths, meaning more air displacement. Without the vents the air would "bunch up" near the bell of the horn causing a somewhat muffled tone, the same as with the bass clarinet when you play a low Eb or C depending on the instrument. These vent holes let some of the surge of air in front of the sound waves escape allowing a truer more pure sound to be emitted. Many pro line bass clarinets have this vent hole in the bell below the lowest note(Eb or C). The only Bb/A clarinets that have these vents holes(That i'm aware of) is a model made by Steven Fox of Canada. I can't remember the exact model of horn, but it is a variant on the Boehm and German systems.
Hope i made some sense and was of some help.
Aaron
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Author: Micaela
Date: 2001-10-23 00:05
I have a wooden Bundy (not quite an oxymoron) oboe that has vent holes and a partial conservatory system (it's got a third register key but not all the chromatic alternates or the low notes). I can get a mildly decent sound out of the thing but it makes my clarinet embouchure hurt so I don't play it very much.
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Author: Mindy's Mom
Date: 2001-10-23 01:52
The holes on teh bell of the oboe allow you to play a low Bb if you cover the holes with your knees. This is only on the student models and not a full conservatory model or profesional models. My daughter (not Mindy -- Ginny) started out with this type of oboe and had a VERY difficult time with all the low notes (probably also because she was just a beginner) but now she has a Cabart with a 3rd octave key and also a fingered low Bb so she doesn't have to use the knees to get down there. the tessitura of the oboe doesn't lie in the low notes and therefore it is not necessary to have the low Bb on a student model since they are more concerned with getting the notes that are usually played at the beginner/intermediate level music. Hope this helps.
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