 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Tam Ngo
Date: 2001-11-20 19:11
i'mthinking of getting a new barrel. will it make a big diff in my sound? I live in cambridge, MA, near boston. where should i get it from? any recomended brands?
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Author: Bart Hendrix
Date: 2001-11-20 19:36
I am not familiar with sources in your area, but I would suggest you try as many as you can and see what the difference is. I tried a bunch on one of my horns and ended up keeping the original -- it sounded better than any of the ones I tried. That does not mean your experience will be the same. The only way to know for sure is to try them out.
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Author: Wes
Date: 2001-11-20 19:52
Hi!
Before you buy a new barrel, try rotating your present barrel for best sound. Check it with a quick cdefgfedc scale in the second register. When you find the best position, put a dot of black fingernail polish on it to tell you where you set it.
If you do try new barrels, try them with different angular rotations. If you don't do this you can reject good barrels or buy a lesser one. Good Luck.
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Author: HAT
Date: 2001-11-20 20:52
No, it will not make a big difference, tonally.
David Hattner, NYC
www.northbranchrecords.com
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Author: joe
Date: 2001-11-20 22:39
YES! It will definitely make a huge difference. It will intonation, and tone-wise. I bought a moennig for my buffet and it works so GOOD! if you have a buffet, I suggest looking up Gregory Smith's website, you can do it via mail, he's a very reliable source. Just type in his name on yahoo or something and his site should come up. You will also have to
1. See which type better accomodates or improves your horn
2. Once you have done that, like a mouthpiece, you need to try out a few of the same model to see if any one is better!
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Author: Gregory Smith
Date: 2001-11-20 23:07
Yes, but the question is how much?
There was a wonderful description given by the famous teacher Stanley Hasty (Professor Emeritus Eastman School of Music) concerning the subject of the clarinetist's equipment and it's effect on how one ultimately sounds.
To paraphrase, "The further away from you brain, the less important the equipment". This was of course intended to actually include the brain, then oral cavity, then embouchure, then mthcpc/reed/lig combo, then barrel, etc. down the line.
Of course the most revealing truism about Hasty's remark is that the brain and one's physical structure, choice of tongue position, embouchure style, etc, effects a good 90% or more of how someone ultimately sounds. The rest is just icing on the cake - a megaphone of sorts - facilitating or enhancing how one naturally sounds anyway.
Gregory Smith
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Author: Hiroshi
Date: 2001-11-21 00:39
As to how Moennig barrel was developed by the collaboration between Ralph MaClane and Hans Moennig, see an article in Hite site. That was a good starting point for me to consider reverse tapered barrels. For my Selmer 10SII, I obtained a Chadash A barrel("A" means for smaller bore horns like mine) with a Greg Smith Chedeville sytle mouthpiece and was astonished to find much improvement in my tones. More concretely, my tone became much more abundant in harmonics, in another word, timber. However, Greg Smith or Pyne propose a barrel with their mouthpiece since they ream the bores of both together. Provably the reaming made an additinal difference in my case. It makes the bores of mouthpiece and barrel perfectly matched causing almost no added turbulence at the interface.
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Author: Brenda Siewert
Date: 2001-11-21 13:21
A barrel can make a huge difference. I always put the stock barrels away on my instruments and get a new Chadash or Moenning for them. I highly recommend either of those two types. Greg Smith has them, International Musical Suppliers has them, and lots of others who will let you take them on "approval."
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Author: HAT
Date: 2001-11-21 13:59
The question was "will a barrel make a difference in my SOUND?" Not intonation or response or anything else.
Although all of those other factors definately influence the way the sound is made and perceived, the barrel will not change the tone color significantly. At least to someone who is listening.
Unless, of course, we are talking about a seriously flawed barrel being replaced.
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Author: Dan Oberlin
Date: 2001-11-21 19:21
Albert Alphin, a Sneezy sponsor
and only a short drive from Boston, is a
possibility if you're interested in finding
someone with knowledge about and an interest
in barrels and who is also close by.
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Author: Emms
Date: 2001-11-21 23:46
Basically, try them and see. If it makes a good difference, buy it. If not, nothing lost!
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Author: Bob
Date: 2001-11-24 15:20
I purchased a second barrel shortly after I purchased my horn because I had the feeling I had to pull the original out too far. I had used a rubber o-ring spacer for awhile but wasn't satisfied with that solution. I feel that the new slightly longer barrel helps my "intonation" but then maybe something else changed in the interim and that was the factor. I liked the comment about "how far away the brain is" and tried playing with my head between my legs but ......
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