The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Axel
Date: 2002-10-20 05:30
I was told, there are Eb-clarinets (for example Oehler-system G. Rudolf Uebel), which are played with the Bb-mouthpiece. It is supposed to be true, that their intonation even in the high register is good. Did you ever hear about it? Does it work?
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Author: donald nicholls
Date: 2002-10-20 20:19
i guess that this could be made to work with some radical departures from what we consider "standard" design.... i seem to remember that the bore of the German mouthpiece is smaller (than for a Boehm clarinet) anyway, which would help....
i'd be interested to hear if anyone knows more (especially as, on this, i know nothing)
tchuess
donald
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Author: Burt
Date: 2002-10-20 23:07
Could you be thinking of a Bb reed on an Eb clarinet mouthpiece? That works.
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2002-10-21 16:00
I don't think a Bb mouthpiece would work on an Eb. The bores are too different, and the tenon of a Bb mouthpiece is quite a bit too big to fit into an Eb barrel. Finally, the greater length and larger chamber of a Bb mouthpiece would make the intonation way off.
Dan Johnston makes Eb mouthpieces that take a Bb reed. I assume he's still in business. For his address and phone number, see http://www.woodwind.org/clarinet/Equipment/MBL/Mouthpiece.html. I've read that Peter Hadcock in Boston played a Johnston mouthpiece.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Axel
Date: 2002-10-21 17:35
Thank you for you replies up to now.
I asked the same question at a German speaking discussion board (http://web.1ab.de/netzwerk/Forum/index.cfm?id=607) and was confirmed, that Rudolf Uebel (not far more known brand F. Arthur Uebel) made an experiment with Bb-mouthpiece for the Eb. Their intonation shall be as well as normal Eb. But I don't know yet, whether their sound is changed and whether these clarinets are still made.
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Author: nzdonald
Date: 2002-10-22 09:53
as i said- with radical bore design it could be possible, perhaps
the C clarinet is often made to be played with a B flat mouthpiece, despite ideally having a smaller mouthpiece- this does cause intonation problems that are dealt with by the makers (hopefully)
this would be a comparable scenario- only the difference between Bflat and C is far less than that between Bflat and Eflat....
doanld
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Author: nzdonald
Date: 2002-10-22 10:02
by the way, i don't want to get all "heavy" n'all, but Ken, did you actually read the postings up top? i think it was quite obvious that Axel wasn't just writing about sticking a Bflat mouthpiece on an E flat clarinet, didn't you?
i just measured the bore volume on my old wooden eflat (german system) mouthpiece, and it was about halfway between an average modern mouthpiece and a modern E flat.... now given that the German B flat mouthpiece has (i believe) a smaller bore than the French style mouthpiece... it might be an idea (using a larger bore E flat mouthpiece)(although, admitedly not actually using a Bflat 'piece) that has already been tried and rejected....
the convenience of this working, however, if it could be done, would be fabulous, it's already great being able to use Bflat reeds, being able to use the same mouthpiece would be even better.
donald
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2002-10-22 15:33
Donald -
Axel really did ask "I was told, there are Eb-clarinets (for example Oehler-system G. Rudolf Uebel), which are played with the Bb-mouthpiece." He said so again in his second posting.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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Author: donald nicholls
Date: 2002-10-23 20:22
yeah, but his posting implied that the E flat clarinet would be INTENDED to have a B flat mouthpiece on it, whereas your posting commented on the "tenon being too big" which, well, suggests that you didn't understand that or doubted
donald
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