 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: BassClari90
Date: 2002-05-04 20:36
Okay, I have had a load of problems with my upper registers, maybe it's just the bass clarinet, but I am doing as best as I can. Okay, I play a Clarion Register B, C, and D, and it's alright, but when I go up to E or higher, you know the sound on b,c and d is kind of soft and light, but then my bass clarient practicly skreaks out and starts making this noise close to a skeak and I can't keep it tame (you know what I mean), the note just goes into Altissimo register on a normal clarinet E. Do you know how to keep my bass from going buzurk and stay with the same pitch up the scale, if I solve this problem, I will be free from trouble and frustration (for a while)...............Until it breaks on me!!! HAHAHAHAH.
If anyone has any advice please don't hestitate, to post it for me and everybody else out there.
Thanks
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Author: Kat
Date: 2002-05-04 21:49
Maybe a pad is leaking? How long since the instrument has been serviced?
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Author: BassClari90
Date: 2002-05-04 22:44
It hasn't been seviced in a lond time, yet it hasn't been played in a long time. The pads still look like they are supposed to, but Kat, you can be correct, I should get the pads checked out if I don't get anymore comments.
Thanks
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Author: Wes
Date: 2002-05-05 04:01
If you refer to E3 in the clarion register, it seems that you may have octave key problems because many bass clarinets switch octave keys on going from Eb3 to E3. Octave key problems are so common on bass clarinets. Even an expert repair person finds them hard to diagnose and fix.
Last Friday, I went to an AF band concert. The band started on a movement and suddenly stopped. The director turned around and said they were having bass clarinet technical problems. After a couple of minutes of fiddling, they got it working and went on with the concert. Good luck!
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2002-05-05 04:13
I agree - it almost certainly needs servicing, but I disagree with ".....Even an expert repair person finds them hard to diagnose and fix." If a serviceman cannot diagnose and fix register key mechanisms then he is definitely not an "expert" repairer! (He shouldn't be near a bass clarinet, nor much else!)
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Author: ken
Date: 2002-05-05 15:15
Wes, what AF Band, band and concert are you refering to and what was the piece?
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Author: Wes
Date: 2002-05-05 16:44
It was the Pacific Coast Winds from the Band of the Golden West who played a great concert at El Camino College last Friday in the Los Angeles area. I could be wrong but I think the piece was "The Good Soldier Schweik Suite" by Robert Kurka.
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Author: Melanie
Date: 2002-05-05 18:26
I have these same problems with my bass clarinet (actually the schools). My teacher, who is also a repairman, and I have done a lot of work on it, but it just hasn't ever been completely fixed. I have also noticed that some of it is my embouchure. I wish you luck. Playing the bass can be a lot of fun, when the horn is working. When it's not, it's frustrating enough to make a person cry.
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Author: graham
Date: 2002-05-05 19:15
I suspect you just need to learn to control it. Bass clarinets have these traits in the upper register.
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Author: ken
Date: 2002-05-05 23:48
Ok, thx Wes, that's the Travis AFB Band, unfortunate about the train wreck but it does happen to even professional quality ensembles/musicians. I did a combo gig once and my bell suddenly just fell off to the floor in the middle of a ride. Thank God for a side B natural, but the low E natural was toast until I was able to swap out horns in between tunes. v/r
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2002-05-06 17:30
The problem is 99.9999999999999% sure to be that the register key mechanism is out of adjustment. In particular, the lower hole (open on middle B up through Eb) is not closing completely when you raise your right ring finger.
Test it by playing 4th space E and having a friend press the lower register vent pad down to cover completely.
This is a tricky adjustment, since there are sliding surfaces and springs competing against one another. You really need to take it to a repair shop, where it will be a matter of 10 or 15 minutes to get it set right.
This mechanism is easy to bend when you're putting the instrument together or taking it apart. You have to use plenty of cork grease and find a way to hold the joints so you don't press on any keys or rods.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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