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RE: Bass Clarinet Help

Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 1999-11-08 19:06

Kurt -

The bass clarinet needs two register keys, one for the middle B up through Eb and another for E and above. Older instruments had two separate keys that you had to slide between. Current instruments have an automatic mechanism with a single key and a series of rods and levers to switch automatically.

These mechanisms are very difficult to keep in adjustment because there are so many different rods, levers and springs that have to reach from halfway down the lower joint all the way up to the neck. To make things even more complicated, the mechanism almost always has a third hole to make a good middle Bb.

Keeping all this in adjustment is not easy. In addition to the three pads and multiple levers, there are opposing springs in three different strengths, so that a small one is overpowered by a larger one, unless the larger one is itself overpowerd by an even larger one, or by your finger pressing on a lever.

The mechanism on your bass is clearly out of adjustment. It is nearly 100% certain that when you press the register key with your right ring finger down, the lower register vent opens properly and the upper register vent properly remains closed. That's why the notes from B to Eb are good.

When you raise your right ring finger, the lower register vent should close and the upper register vent should open. On your instrument, the lower register vent is 99% certain to be staying slightly open. Even a tiny leak will make the notes above Eb impossible to play. The way to tell is to have someone hold the lower register vent closed for you, or wedge it closed with a folded piece of cardboard. You will see that the notes above Eb play very nicely.

While you can adjust this yourself, and should learn to do so, the interplay is so complex (including, for example, making sure that flat springs slide smoothly along grooves in the wood, and that long rods are perfectly straight) that it would be best to go to a repair person who specializes in bass clarinets to get it set correctly and you will know how the instrument plays when properly adjusted.

Good luck.

Ken Shaw

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