 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Dan
Date: 2002-12-16 01:12
Does the size of the "gap" between the bottom of the mpc and "top" of the bore section of the barrel have any affect on the operational charactericts of the clarinet? I have Vito V40 with a barrel top inner depth of 0.679". I also have a Vandoren 2V with a tenon length of 0.639". This would create a "gap" of 0.040".
I've been doing some reading in "The Clarinet Revealed" and have found nothing concerning this. I know that the clarinet can be "tuned" by pulling out the barrel from the body of instrument, but have never heard of any change in the response or resistance characteristics after doing so.
Is this "gap" rather meaningless as far as the operation of the instrument, or, if it does have an affect, what characteristic is affected and what would be an "acceptable" tolerance measurement?
Thank you in advance for your comments.
Dan
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Author: Benni
Date: 2002-12-16 01:38
I think there are two schools of thought about that gap . . . Some people (myself included) pull out a little at the mouthpiece to tune, thereby creating a gap on our own. Other people would rather have their horn run over by an Edsel before they even *thought* about pulling out at the mouthpiece. Of course, if a gap already exists there, I don't see much harm in playing with the size of it to improve your tuning. Maybe someone from the "gapless" school could post their view on the matter . . .
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2002-12-16 04:25
My mouthpiece won't fit all the way into the barrel but it seems fine to me. There's a slight gap there, even though it's pushed in as far as it can go. Still plays, still sounds good. That's all that matters to me.
Alexi
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2002-12-16 04:51
There is a gap beyond most tenons on most clarinets. When I instal a metal cap which, the way I do it, lengthens the tenon by the thickness of the metal, I seldom need to shorten the tenon.
Is it possible for water to collect there and gurgle, or otherwise affect playing?
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Author: Wes
Date: 2002-12-16 06:40
If the gap is large, it could flatten the throat notes more than one would wish. A gap of 0.04 inch is probably small enough that one wouldn't notice any effect while a gap of more than 0.1 inch may slightly flatten the throat notes even if most of the other notes are reasonably in tune, in my opinion. Good luck!
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Author: John J. Moses
Date: 2002-12-16 13:46
The most important thing is playing in tune.
That said, any way you can accomplish that is good.
The clarinet generally must be pulled out at some point, usually between the bottom of the barrel and the top of the top joint. Mouthpieces pulled out are much less common, but slight adjustments to pulling the bell are common.
Tuning rings are often used to fill the gap created by pulling out, they work well for some people, but I feel it's more of a psychological fix, whatever.
Again, the most important thing you must focus on is playing in tune. There is no excuse for playing out of tune, so make any adjustments necessary to accomplish that goal.
Good luck,
JJM
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Author: William
Date: 2002-12-16 15:05
According to Tom Ridenour (accoustician and designer of clarinets), a small gap at the socket joints has no influence on the playing characteristcs of the clarinet. I remember him saying that while working on my Concertos at LeBlanc (1995 or so). As I use the same barrel on both A and Bb, I make tuning adjustments at the barrel joint and leave the mouthpiece fully inserted. I also pull the middle and bell joints as needed and have never felt the need for use of tuning rings.
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Author: jez
Date: 2002-12-16 16:59
If the gap causes problems you could have a small ring made to fill up the space. I've known people have a selection of 'tuning-rings' of different thicknesses to enable them to pull out as necessary but still leave the bore unaffected.
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Author: David Spiegelthal
Date: 2002-12-16 17:33
My own experience has been the same as voiced by Tom Ridenour and John Moses above --- I've never noticed any effects (adverse or otherwise) from the presence of gaps between mouthpiece and barrel or barrel and upper joint. There are more significant problems to worry about!
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