 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: MarkF786
Date: 2023-11-24 07:51
I'm in the US and looking to buy a Yamaha clarinet but noticed some of them are listed as 442Hz, the European standard.
Are all Yamaha clarinets 442Hz, or are those sold in the US 440Hz?
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2023-11-24 11:27
With maybe only very few exceptions, all clarinets are made to 442Hz. Certainly all the ones from the largest most known makers (i.e. Buffet, Yamaha, Selmer).
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Author: MarkF786
Date: 2023-11-24 20:17
Doing a little more research, I do see that in the US Yamaha sells them with 65mm barrels, while in Europe with 66mm barrels.
For a YCL-650, it's $1,000+ (45%) more expensive in the US. It's annoying that Yamaha gouges US customers so badly. It's the same with all their instruments, and I've saved considerably over the years buying Yamaha flutes & piccolos from Europe.
Is it reasonable to assume the 1mm difference isn't worth $1,000 and that the barrel could be pulled out slightly to adjust?
I'd email Yamaha to see if they'd sell a separate 65mm barrel (they sell many sizes for their high-end models), but they likely refuse to sell them to discourage customers from buying EU models.
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Author: m1964
Date: 2023-11-25 10:08
MarkF786 wrote:
> Doing a little more research, I do see that in the US Yamaha
> sells them with 65mm barrels, while in Europe with 66mm
> barrels...
Checking musique-et-art.com and Yamaha's catalog they show 650 II with a 65mm barrel.
Their Artist model comes with both 65mm and 66mm barrels, but the 650 is shown with a 65mm barrel only.
Which is not a big deal since you'd need to pull out extra 1mm when the clarinet warms up or when playing in hot temps.
In fact, having a shorter barrel can be useful during winter months, when a lot of venues are not heated to 72F. This way it's possible to be in tune at 440Hz even if the temp. is low.
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Author: JTJC
Date: 2023-11-25 13:42
I recall hearing Annelien Van Wauwe, a Europe-based soloist who has emerged over the past decade, saying she needed two pairs of clarinets, one at 440 and another at 442. This was to make it easier playing recitals with piano when in either UK or mainland Europe. Do people find changing barrel enough when playing with a fixed pitch instrument?
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