 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Clarinet99
Date: 2019-12-31 03:15
Hi Everyone,
I have been having some troubles with not being in tune lately. I always give myself a solid warm up, but somehow I always still end up flat. I play on an R13 buffet, with a BD5 mouthpiece and normally a 64 or 63mm barrel. I have heard that BD5's tend to make your instrument play flat, therefore I switched to a M30, however I am still having the same problems. I really don't want to go down anymore in my barrel size if I can help it. Any suggestions would be great.
Thank you!
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2019-12-31 03:26
I'm not even sure where you'd get a much shorter barrel save for custom work.
My first thought may be that you could be on plastic reeds. My pitched dropped precipitously on Legeres but I have a collection of 63mm barrels (and one 62mm Moenig) that work just fine.
The mouthpiece is another place to make up for pitch. If there is a "standard" pitch version of the ones you use opposed to a "13 Series," that would help too.
Finally temperature has a huge effect on pitch if you live in a colder climate, and try to save some sheckels by keeping the thermostat in the 60s, this will make your pitch really low.
If none of these are contributing factors for you, then a shorter barrel (perhaps check in with Dr. Allan Segal of "clarinetconcepts" for an even shorter solution) may be your only option.
................Paul Aviles
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Author: Burt
Date: 2019-12-31 04:19
Is your clarinet flat more or less equally throughout the range? Or is flat primarily in the throat tone range?
In the latter case, a shorter barrel is a solution. Another solution could be to get the mouthpiece cut shorter at the cork end.
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Author: Ed
Date: 2019-12-31 07:45
I believe that the M30 is available in the 13 series as well as traditional. Check which you have. Many 13 series mouthpieces can tend toward being a bit flat. I would pay a little attention to reed strength and see if perhaps you are a little on the softer side of what may work, which can cause pitch to drop.
Everything in your set up is reasonable and nothing sounds extreme. Assuming that everything in one's set up is pretty standard, the reed matches the mouthpiece well and the instrument is all working properly, it is important to check if anything you are doing is causing this. You might check embouchure support and voicing. You might try to see what pitch you sound on the mouthpiece alone. I generally find that a high C is pretty standard. I would also suggest having someone else try your set up and try the instrument with their mouthpiece to see the result.
In cases when I find someone needs fairly extreme barrel lengths there are often issues in how the person is approaching the instrument. I would not immediately assume it is the equipment. I would check everything out before I go that route.
Good luck and let us know how things work out.
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Author: bmcgar ★2017
Date: 2019-12-31 08:16
What are you flat in relation to? Are you tuning to A 440 or something else?
B.
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Author: Clarinet99
Date: 2019-12-31 18:58
Thank you so much Paul!
I normally play on cane reeds and do have the 13 series of both the BD5 and the M30. I live in a colder climate but keep humidifiers in my case and my clarinets are kept at a good temperature. I think I will check in with Dr. Allan Segal and see if I can find a solution there. Thank you so much!
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Author: Clarinet99
Date: 2019-12-31 19:01
Hi Burt,
I am flat pretty consistently in all of the ranges.
thanks so much for your help!
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Author: Clarinet99
Date: 2019-12-31 19:10
Hi Ed,
Thank you so much for the help!
I have the 13 series for both my BD5 and the M30 series. My professor has tried my clarinet with his mouthpiece and the flatness seems to go away, so as you mentioned I figured my embouchure might be the problem as well. My professor checked my embouchure in my lessons and he said I was doing okay, so he thought the mouthpiece was the problem. I think I will definitely go try other mouthpieces on my clarinet and see if there is one that works better as you suggested. Thank you for you help!
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2019-12-31 20:15
I would add that your professor should carry the most weight amongst suggestions since he is hearing and seeing you as the issue is occurring.
Hope you find a solution for the New Year!
................Paul Aviles
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Author: Ed
Date: 2019-12-31 20:27
Consider getting one of the non 13 series. I have known people who went that route and found it immediately helped. Either that or go with a different maker, perhaps someone who could tailor it to your tastes- Fobes, Behn, etc.
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Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2019-12-31 20:50
Exactly how flat are you? You said the flatness was consistent over the whole range, but it is flat to the same degree in each register? Is the upper section more out of tune than the longer notes?
Have you verified that your tuner is calibrated properly?
What made you notice the flatness? From your original post, the clarinet hasn't always been flat. Was it a sudden change or a gradual one?
Has anything else changed in your equipment or in your playing technique since slightly before you first started noticing that you were playing flat?
I'm having trouble accepting that an R-13 with a 63 mm barrel can be flat whether the mouthpiece is a Series 13 or not. Especially since it was apparently at one time in tune.
Karl
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Author: Tony Pay ★2017
Date: 2019-12-31 21:30
Record a scale or two and send a link to the audio file.
Tony
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