 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: alto_and_bass_clarinetist
Date: 2005-03-06 02:15
Hello all,
I went to my local music store because my sister had apparently taken my clarinet without my knowledge and has left it at school. So I was renting a clarinet (I need the practice - District Solo and Ensemble is only in one week for me!) and they told me that the best clarinets they could provide me with were the Vito 7214 and 7214P. When they pulled out the 7214P I expected a bit of a modification (like maybe a different barrel or something), but instead I found that this clarinet used the plateau system! For those of you who don't play flute or other woodwinds, the plateau system covers the tone holes, like having plugs. This way, you don't have to cover the entire hole: the key will do it for you. I was thinking about renting it just to see what it would be like, so I did. And I suddenly had flashbacks to my flute and oboe days... I was wondering whether I should continue using the clarinet or not. But I then thought about the long-term consequences - when I began playing a French-system keyed (open holed) flute, I played very well. Then I switched to plateau-system keys (closed hole) using plugs, and I soon found that my fingers had become somewhat lazy and refused to cover the tone holes when I removed the plugs... This might happen to me, but with clarinet! If my previous experience had taken a few months to correct... Do you think perhaps I should explore my curiosity or reject it completely?
...
So basically I'm asking:
Have any of you had experiences with plateau-system clarinets? If so, did you prefer it to the open-hole ("normal") clarinet?
Post Edited (2005-03-06 02:15)
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Author: Contra
Date: 2005-03-06 02:26
Since plateau keys are the only thing used for bass/contrabass clarinet and saxophones, I use it almost exclusively. I have no problem switching back to open holes.
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Author: alto_and_bass_clarinetist
Date: 2005-03-06 02:38
I normally don't have problems with bass-to-soprano switching, but then again those are different sized instruments...
Well, either way, you made me feel a bit less anxious.
Thanks alot, Contra.
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Author: Terry Stibal
Date: 2005-03-06 15:00
I've recommended the plateau style horn to any number of saxophone folks who are having trouble with doubling. As mentioned above, the huge contact surface of the plateau does breed "sloppy" habits, but if you're already stuck with the problem from years of saxophone playing, it's the best solution.
It's also a good move for a very young clarinet player who is having hole coverage troubles. Small female fingers don't always mix with clarinet playing, particularly on the pro horns. A plateau horn used for three or four years will bridge the period when these girls just don't have the finger size to hack a standard horn. In this, it is much like the plugs on an open holed flute (except you can't pop the plugs in and out at will.
A third problem group served well by the plateau clarinet is with people with finger injuries or deformities. Back in Saint Louis, I knew a guy who had lost the best part of the first two joints on the right hand middle finger. On a normal clarinet, this would mean the end of a playing career. On a plateau clarinet with a couple of modifications, he could still play with equal facility. It looked a bit odd, but sounded just fine.
The plateau horn would sound different to most users, but allowances are made for that with pad spacing and the like so that the listener's experience is much the same. The most recent user that I have listened to was equal to most other players in terms of tone. In terms of facility, of course, he was much better as he could flop around with a degree of abandon that those of us with holed clarinets could only dream of.
What I absolutely don't understand about plateau keys is why the middle finger right hand on a Oehler clarinet has a plateau key (on the professional level horns, at least). Perhaps someone hereon can enlighten me on this point.
leader of Houston's Sounds Of The South Dance Orchestra
info@sotsdo.com
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Author: David Peacham
Date: 2005-03-06 18:43
Terry wrote:
"What I absolutely don't understand about plateau keys is why the middle finger right hand on a Oehler clarinet has a plateau key (on the professional level horns, at least). Perhaps someone hereon can enlighten me on this point."
It isn't a plateau. A plateau is a covered hole. This is just a touchpiece. There's no hole below it. Instead, it controls two holes. With the finger raised, you get F# (upper register) not Fnat as on a Boehm. With the finger lowered, both holes close and you get E.
Also, it is the presence of this mechanism that defines an Oehler. A German clarinet without this isn't an Oehler, it's just a German clarinet. To be absolutely precise, an Oehler is a clarinet made by the firm called Oehler, but the term is generally used to include any clarinet with this mechanism. Student-level clarinets, and pro-level clarinets in Austria, don't have it and aren't Oehlers.
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If there are so many people on this board unwilling or unable to have a civil and balanced discussion about important issues, then I shan't bother to post here any more.
To the great relief of many of you, no doubt.
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Author: Terry Stibal
Date: 2005-03-06 19:21
"It isn't a plateau. A plateau is a covered hole. This is just a touchpiece. There's no hole below it. "
Well, there I go, not taking a new horn apart to see what's really going on. I've been a bit leery of doing any repair work on it (there are a couple of keys that I'd like to modify a bit), since I have no idea what works with what.
Thanks for the answer to my question.
leader of Houston's Sounds Of The South Dance Orchestra
info@sotsdo.com
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Author: Terry Stibal
Date: 2005-03-07 19:10
Following the information regarding the middle finger, right hand "plateau" key on Oehler "system" horns, I brought mine to work today (got a long bass clarinet only job this evening, and I spend my idle time sitting and waiting by taking the Oehler horn out and playing along) and did a detailed examination under bright lighting.
(I have not taken it apart, as it's a "one of a kind" as far as having a playing horn, and the mechanism is more complicated than I want to have to fool with to reassemble it.)
Examination of the key in question revealed the following:
• The space on the clarinet body below the plateau key was cut down with a "fly" style cutter. There is a small center hole, plus a large "flat" surrounding it that clears space below the key
• The bottom of the "plateau" key has a white skin pad, of the same color and style as the other pads on the instrument. It is properly installed and appears to have been leveled. There is no "cut mark" where the pad has borne on a tone-hole, at least as far as I can see with the tools at my disposal.
• The center hole in the flat below the key does not appear to communicate with the bore. I don't have a leak light of my own anymore, but sealing the socket with tissue, closing everything, and then looking down the bore while shining a bright light at the center hole while operating the key open and shut does not reveal any light.
(Mind you, it's not the best test, but it is the best one that I'm set up to produce. Air testing, since other holes below the one in question have to be held shut to make it gas tight, doesn't work in this instance.)
The one thing that puzzles me the most is the pad on the bottom of the plateau. I have seen third finger, right hand plateau touch pieces, located over a similar flat on the body of a bass clarinet, with a pad fitted by a clueless repairman (as the "holes" in this case aren't through, and are just an artifact of the manufacturing process). However, this was a fundamentally "new" horn (only sent out on approval for purchase once prior to my purchase of same, and marked down as used as the prior "testee" ruined the original mouthpiece). As such, it appears that no work has been performed on it, and that the mystery pad was installed with the rest of them at the factory in the Czech Republic.
The pad does not appear to bear on anything when in the down position, for what that's worth. There's quite a bit of obstruction (in the form of rods and other keywork) around the key in question, so it's hard to see exactly what's going on. But, a slip of paper placed under same is not held at all when the key is in the down position.
What gives? Why would the folks (volk?) at Amati go to the trouble of installing a pad that doesn't bear on anything?
leader of Houston's Sounds Of The South Dance Orchestra
info@sotsdo.com
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