 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: nes
Date: 2006-01-23 04:38
Does anyone find their throat Bb to be less than adequate in tone, any suggestions on how to improve the sound of that Bb? Any thoughts on this subject are welcomed
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: GBK
Date: 2006-01-23 05:11
The throat Bb is one of the weakest notes on the clarinet, due to the compromise location of the register key vent. Resonance fingerings are often used to help focus this note.
First, make certain that the vent tube is clean and free of debris. Remove the register key and carefully clean out the tube with a pipe cleaner.
Make sure the clarinet is adjusted correctly
Check the opening of the register key. It should be open to about the thickness of a (US) nickel.
If the register key has a cork pad, beveling the pad to a truncated cone shape may help.
Check the opening of the throat A key - is that note also stuffy?
Check all pads on the upper joint for loose or torn membranes.
Try some of the standard resonance fingerings for throat Bb
Here are 3 resonance fingerings to try:
The Bb resonance fingering which for my R-13's produces the most pleasing tonality and focus is:
R + A key o o x / o o x +F/C key
When possible, that is my preferred choice in exposed Bb passages.
Another good choice is:
R + A key o x x / o x x
Both fingerings above will clear up the Bb, with the first one raising the pitch a bit more.
There are a number of other possibilities, including this one (which I have always thought produces too much resonance):
R + A key o x x +C#/G# key / o o o
There are also slight variations for all of the above fingerings. Experiment and find the one that works with your set up ...GBK
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: David Peacham
Date: 2006-01-23 08:56
Surely the best way to improve the sound (and tuning) of this note is to use the side key rather than the register key.
-----------
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.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2006-01-23 13:22
Yes the side key is the clearest, but I find very few practical instances where it can be used. I hasten to add this is NOT an option on German clarinets.
To NES,
Part of playing this note well is to give up the obsession with its inadequacy. GBK's fingerings are the best, so as long as you are in tune the difference to you will be greater to you than anyone at any listening distance at all. In a longer, more sustained moment give it a little more air and more support than the notes around it to give you as much clarity as possible.
..............Paul Aviles
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: crnichols
Date: 2006-01-23 13:41
I've actually found that the side key fingering can be used in most non-technical passages quite easily, and often in technical ones as well. It requires some practice, but it sounds so much better that it's worth it. I must note, however, that I have fairly large hands and long fingers, so it's easier for me to use that fingering than some others.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Chris P
Date: 2006-01-23 13:47
I find using the side Bb even more important on an A clarinet and basset horn (that hasn't got the double register mech. as in Selmers) where the standard throat Bb is very weak.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Bob Phillips
Date: 2006-01-23 15:31
Well, you could buy a full Boehm horn and use the long Bb fingering.
I agree with Chris Nichols that you can reach the side Bb in many situations. If you can get to it cleanly, use it.
Over the last year, I've adopted the attitude that "Its a clarinet! Live with it." (Like Paul Alvis advises) This takes a lot of pressure off of exposed passages in the throat register.
Bob Phillips
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Chris P
Date: 2006-01-23 17:44
"Well, you could buy a full Boehm horn and use the long Bb fingering."
That's what I've done.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Sean.Perrin
Date: 2006-01-23 22:35
I would suggest experimenting with putting fingers of the right hand down and pressing the "F/C" key down.
Evey time I play an A or Bb in this register i put down my middle and ring finger, along with the F/C key. On my instrument it improves the resonance, tone, and intonation. although It can feel very awkward at first (especially in faster passages), but after a while it becomes second nature and will make you sound great!
Founder and host of the Clarineat Podcast: http://www.clarineat.com
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: jez
Date: 2006-01-23 22:50
If you look at a Buffet basset-clarinet you'll find the ideal answer in the mechanism to separate the use of the the thumb-key as a speaker and as a B flat.
I've just had something similar put on an old A clarinet which I'm having bassetised and it not only makes the throat B flat a very usable note, but also improves the lower clarion noticably due to the ability to put the speaker hole in the correct place, rather than the compromise of having to put it in some random position which happens to produce a wheezy B flat.
The difference between the correct placing and the usual compromise is huge; almost a centimetre.
jez
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Don Berger
Date: 2006-01-24 01:11
And then there is the Stubbins mechanism, which many of us believe [as he has written], that its the best throat-pinch Bb tonal-pitch solution. Too bad it didn't succeed for the sop cl, as it has for some of the larger cls. Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Brenda Siewert
Date: 2006-01-24 19:59
I agree about the side key. Also the suggestion to clean out the register key and make sure there's no debris. Good pads help, too. And I've found that certain barrels (wait, don't throw things yet) DO help. My Backun and the Allan Segal barrels both help get a clearer sound on the throat tones, including the Bb.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Keith Ferguson
Date: 2006-01-25 01:56
If you're playing on an R13, don't forget the Galper register vent and key mechanism. I understand that it helps some instruments more than others, but if you're not nimble enough to rely on resonance fingerings, it might be part of the solution. It has improved the Bb on my R13, and has also improved the experience when "crossing the bridge".
Check out http://members.aol.com/cwindz/galper.html
Keith
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Terry Stibal
Date: 2006-01-25 03:49
I use the side fingering extensively, but doing it smoothly for anything beyond a quarter note is way too difficult for me.
Oddly enough, I avoid the "long Bb" on my full Boehm Bb like the plague. Whereas the full Boehm horn gives a much better (and more consistent) B due to the extra body length, the Bb sounds "off" (as does the low Eb).
Too bad that long trill key isn't more accessible...
leader of Houston's Sounds Of The South Dance Orchestra
info@sotsdo.com
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
