The Clarinet BBoard

The Clarinet BBoard The C4 standard

New Topic | Go to Top | Go to Topic | Search | Help/Rules | Smileys/Notes | Log In

Previous Message | Next Message

Re: Air leaks

Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2014-08-23 01:57

By "air leak" I assume you mean that you hear a lot of noise or hiss. That particular tone hole is prone to this kind of stuffiness because it is placed in the wrong spot. For best intonation it should be located right in the middle of the tenon-socket of the middle joint with a larger tone hole. Manufacturers have generally moved it up above the joint and then compensated for the sharpness of the shorter air column by making the tone hole smaller. It's mostly that smaller tone hole diameter that causes C#/Db4 and G#/Ab5 (it's twelfth) to be stuffy and harder to control.

If the pad doesn't open enough, of course, it will make the problem worse. You can't enlarge the tone hole itself without raising the pitch too much to be a good trade-off (which is the reason for the problem in the first place). Often a repair tech will undercut the hole a little, allowing a slightly larger, more tapered escape for the air at that hole. This can free the response and not raise the pitch nearly as much as actually boring the outside of the hole itself bigger. It will still be a compromise, because you can only do so much before the pitch gets too sharp, and also you have to be careful that the twelfth (G#/Ab5) doesn't get sharper than the C#/Db4. It's a delicate compromise that is best done slowly in small increments, but those notes can be markedly improved.

In my experience (others may well differ) I have found that an A clarinet slightly exaggerates this and other pitch/response compromises. Your Bb may have been designed slightly differently or was already undercut to solve the problem before you got it (it's part of some techs' setup procedure).

Karl

Reply To Message | Avail. Forums | Flat View

Newer Topic | Older Topic

Topics