 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2005-08-20 13:22
Am I a rare breed playing full-time on Full Boehms?
I've played a pair of Selmer 'Centered Tone' N.6 (which has everything except the low Eb) clarinets since 1987, and have moved to a pair of Series 9 N.8 clarinets recently, but now see the few major brands that once offered full boehms in their lineup now longer don't, and the only extra keywork option seems to be the LH Eb/Ab key (which should really be standard on most intermediate and pro instruments).
Only problem with full boehms is the full fingering for the altissimo Bb (Th, Sp, 123 G#, 456 F/C), as the articulated G# key remains closed with the RH rings, and I welcome any full boehm players on here that know a good fingering for this note to let me know.
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2005-08-20 17:09
I wouldn't be greatly surprised but that you are. Up thru high school, 2 years college band and a few years of dance band playing, the only [or nearly so] good cl I had was a 1920's Penzel Mueller F B which played somewhat flat up high! Then [early 1950's] I tried out some 17/6's for orch etc work, with the FB for trans and fingering problems and began collecting!. Presently I have the PM, and a 1932 Selmer RI FB, having given my 1920's Sel FB to the Shrine [NMM] in SD. Now I generally play [sop, that is] on a fine CT or a newer Sel Omega [USA] . My alto and bass cls are Sel-Paris, great!. I sometimes use the "full Bb" [do you mean your mid-staff Bb??] depending on which "tonality character" to adjacent notes, C or A the music calls for, otherwise I use the "pinch" [improved?] or A + trill if a slow passage for better sound. Luck, Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: clarinetwife
Date: 2005-08-20 22:09
My A clarinet is a Full Boehm, and the "long" fingerings for altissimo Bb can be problematic since the articulated C#/G# stays closed. Try substituting the LH F/C key for the C#/G# key, or check out some of the "shorter" variant fingerings on the woodwind fingering guide
http://www.wfg.woodwind.org/clarinet/cl_alt_4.html
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Author: clarisax
Date: 2005-08-20 23:21
a good Bb can be produced by fingering the standard high F, but then removing your left thumb off of the hole (while still pressing the register key). this is the fingering i use when playing a Bb arpeggio up that high because its an easier transition coming from the F before it. all you do is simply lift up your thumb off the hole.
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Author: GBK
Date: 2005-08-20 23:59
clarisax wrote:
> a good Bb can be produced by fingering the standard high F, but
> then removing your left thumb off of the hole (while still
> pressing the register key).
That fingering could tend to be on the low side. On an R13, I find it is too low to use.
2 other possibilities of "short Bb6 fingerings" which would work well on a full Boehm instrument as well as on a standard (ex: 17/6) clarinet:
TR + G# throat key oxx (C#/G# key) / ooo (C#/F# key)
and
TR + A throat key oxx (+lower 2 right side keys) / ooo
...GBK
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2005-08-21 11:39
Just spoken to someone who gets a good altissimo Bb out of his B&H 1010 and Louis Chas Draper Model - and no C#/G# needed (but a LH Ab/Eb lever would make things better).
Th, Sp, 123 456 Eb/Ab-F/C (othewise with the LH Ab/Eb lever it would be Th, Sp, 123 LH Ab/Eb 456 F/C) - and this leads on nicely up to the alt. B and C.
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Author: Ken Mills
Date: 2005-08-27 22:16
Dear Chris P; I had a Leblanc LL, a Noblet 50 (count up from the 45 to get successive extra keys in the 1980s), and a Selmer Series 9 full Boehms. It is easy to disable the articulated mechanism so that the tonehole won't close when you play the long F or Bb above it. Just sand the cork stopper and bent its lever away a little and enjoy the acoustical benefits of the tonehole for that G#/C#. As I have written before on this BBoard, get the best clarinet (one that is slighly higher pitched for me) and add the Eb/Ab lever to the outside like a Selmer Signature. Yes, that lever is essential. Let us admit that there is a big gap between those two registers and make the mechanism for the busy little fingers. Why doesn't every bass or alto clarinet have that lever standard? The Series 9 was stuffy in the long pipe clarion notes. Shout out better without the full Boehm extension. Loud or off is me. Off now, Ken
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2005-08-27 23:03
Ken says it very well. I have tweaked my 1932 RI FB to make a fine playing horn, its only "bad notes" [now] are the D4 and its 12th A5, which, if you will try, can be much improved by opening the C#/G# pad-touch, improving their venting !!. My "long, mid-staff" Bb is well in tune, and is useable to match tonalities of adjacent notes. Just need a place to play it !! Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: Wes
Date: 2005-08-28 07:05
Hi!
Well, I played for about 40 years on a pair of Buffet full Boehm clarinets and was quite happy with them. However, I now have some R13s that I'm satisfied with them. The alternate high F fingering(long) is now available as is the long altissimo Bb. On my newest R13, the high F is almost up to pitch anyhow. While I liked the alternate Ab/Eb, it's absence is not a problem as I slide where necessary. The full Boehm just is not as available any more.
Good luck!
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