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ID-ing high-pitch and low-pitch full Boehms

Author: chogue
Date: 2000-01-28 20:04

Can anyone tell me if I can, without a tuner, tell whether an old full Boehm clarinet is a high-pitch, low-pitch, or 440-A?

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RE: ID-ing high-pitch and low-pitch full Boehms

Author: Don Berger
Date: 2000-01-28 22:01

My guesswork! Few if any of the additional-keyed clarinets, unless very-very old [Albert-Mueller systems]will be high pitched. If your Full Boehm is of the period 1910-40, its likely about 435, somewhat flat in playing now [unless you use a shorter barrel and then have to lip-favor some notes!]. After that it should be 440 [+?], but FB's lost popularity when most pro's also invested in A's. When checking out older horns, I just play along with FM classics to get a feel of pitch, a careful check against a tuner, of course is the best! I'm sure others will have better info and opinions. Don

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RE: ID-ing high-pitch and low-pitch full Boehms

Author: John Scorgie
Date: 2000-01-31 16:59

chogue --

Don Berger's suggestion of playing along with music on the radio is excellent because it will allow to you to test the pitches of many different notes on the clarinet. The problem with using an A440 tuning fork is that it will only tell you whether that single pitch (B on a B flat clarinet)is in tune. After that, you are dependent on your own pitch sense for the other notes.

Here is what I used to do (before I got smart): Using a familiar clarinet of known pitch (and known sharpness or flatness on various notes), play a pitch on the known clarinet and then switch your mouthpiece and play the same note on the "test" clarinet. Keep switching back and forth for various notes and you will eventually get a fairly good idea of the tuning of the "test" clarinet.

Old Chinese? Jewish? Turkish? proverb: "We get so soon old and yet so late smart." I finally got smart and bought one of these new low priced battery operated electronic chromatic tuners which are so tiny that you can carry one in a clarinet case with a large storage compartment (or carry it in a jacket pocket).

You can buy these from any good music store or from the big mail order suppliers. Mine is a Seiko from a local music store but I am sure the other brands are also good. You can buy this Seiko for less than $35 or a fancier one for $75 - $100.

How did I ever live without one?

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RE: ID-ing high-pitch and low-pitch full Boehms

Author: Don Berger
Date: 2000-02-01 15:45

Thank you, John, just "Doin' whut coms nachurly", I watch the stock market and listen [at the same time] to classic FM {drives my wife batty!} while working up a horn. It does help my playing tho to try to phrase, tune, etc with the pros. Yes, a chromatic tuner is to be much preferred. Don

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