 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: donald
Date: 2007-01-03 18:15
kia ora
i posted a while back re the "Lomax Barrel" which is in reality a Zinner Barrel (available from Mike Lomax and Walter Grabner). I chose mine, for B flat, at Clarinetfest 06 with the help of two extra sets of ears for advice- i picked a cocobolo barrel out of a selection of grenadilla/cocobolo ones.
I mentioned to Mike that i wasn't too keen on a cocobolo barrel as i had found in the past that they didn't project as well, and he said "well, try it out, i think you'll be suprised..." The barrel i found has a very live ringing sound and definately helps me get a small sweet sound to the back of the hall without feeling i have to "push". Evidence- recently heard broadcasts on our national Classic FM of myself in Rite of Spring (2nd part) and Dvorak New World (1st part) where i was more happy than i've ever been with my sound, and solo spots at PP were easily audible without being loud or harsh. A colleague from NZSO tried this barrel and offered me $500 on the spot for it....
My only reservation with this product is that now my Bflat sound is quite different from my A clarinet sound (as i only have one for B flat and it worsens the tuning on my A)... AND that the orchestra i am about to audition for is used to hearing a more "dark mellow" sound than i produce with this barrel (this orchestra has told me in the past that my sound was not "mellow enough" for them)- so i might switch to another barrel just until the audition.
The Zinner barrel appears to have a "reverse conical" section in the bore, leading to a cylindrical section, and then a conical section so that the barrel ends smaller than the top joint of R13, but not so much as Chadash/Moennig barrels do. I'm sure others can provide more scientific analysis, but it would appear that this gives the barrel the reduced bore capacity of a tappered barrel (improving 12ths in left hand) without sharpening the short tube notes (fundamental) quite as noticably... and the cylindrical section makes the tone quality closer to a good example of the stock cylindrical barrels. It appears that the bore was machined, not reamed by hand.
i hope that this was helpful- i have used this barrel extensively for orchestral (mostly section) and solo/chamber playing over the last 4 months and have only the reservations mentioned above. The principal clarinet in Philharmonia has given me a hard time for moving too much when i play, but has no harsh words for my tone or intonation. You may wish to search for the other postings on "Lomax barrel"
keep playing the good tunes.
donald
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Author: D Dow
Date: 2007-01-03 19:30
I would find it disconcerting to have my A sound too different from the Bb clarinet ...my conductor here also has a very keen ear to these dicrepencies so I would certainly try to find a barrell that has the same quality you are looking for both clarinets...
David Dow
Post Edited (2007-01-03 19:37)
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2007-01-03 20:15
The best barrels I've tried have a "wasp waist" profile, with a reverse taper at the top, a cylindrical section and then a smaller increasing taper at the bottom. Getting the right relationship of the three sections is tricky and something of a black art, but when it's right, the results are exceptional.
In particular, this type of barrel has the carrying power at soft dynamics that Donald describes. Anthony Gigliotti had it in spades. In the Philadelphia recording of The Pines of Rome, he plays the big solo almost at a whisper, yet comes through like a thread of gold.
At least on the barrel I use, I can cover the sound without losing the "ping." In your position, I'd get a similar barrel for my A clarinet and never look back.
Good luck on the audition.
Ken Shaw
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Author: donald
Date: 2007-01-04 00:17
D Dow- i'm not sure why you posted that, as i had already made that point in my posting ("my only reservation is"- although i had two reservations) and it's a problem easily resolved.
donald
(oh, that's not supposed to sound quite as grumpy as it does, sorry, and thanks Ken for audition luck)
Post Edited (2007-01-04 01:31)
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Author: D Dow
Date: 2007-01-04 02:14
donald
just trying to be helpful..I have worked for years with conductors and some of them can be pretty tough if they notice a color change too much from one instrument to another......others wouldn't care if you played kazoo...!!!
best of luck
re; the Zinner barrells I have tried are quite nice and very nice in terms of response especailly...however one still has to make music..
David Dow
Post Edited (2007-01-04 02:16)
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2007-01-04 14:04
Liquorice -
I use barrels hand-made by Kalmen Opperman, who matched them to my mouthpiece (which he also made), clarinet (which he set up) and way of blowing.
He's in his 80s, though, and semi-retired, and he does work only for his students and former students.
Ken Shaw
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