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Author: Tom Henson
Date: 2008-05-27 19:30
I did find a link of a company in Germany called Clarissono that has published on their website intonation graphs of customer's clarinets. I don't claim to fully understand all that the intonation graphs means, but they are there to look at. The only possibly caveat I would state is that this link is from a firm in Germany who advertises that the can analyze and correct these types of intonation issues shown in the graphs. The graphs are then given as examples. I don't think these graphs represent that all German clarinets will have these tuning issues, but certainly some do.
Related to that, I believe that these intonation graphs were part of a before and after to show the customer the improvements that they were able to make to their instrument. It appears that some people were helped by a different barrel or mouthpiece than what they were using. You will need to paste this link into your browser to get to the website and I apologize for the long link.
Two Buffets Boehm clarinets were tested, an RC Prestige and an Elite along with many of the major German makers. Looking at these graphs, it is quite clear that the brand of clarinet alone is no guarantee that it will play well in tune. Some of the worst intonation shown looks to be from Yamaha, although these are German bore Yamaha's, not French. It is my understanding that Yamaha French bore clarinets have quite good intonation.
http://www.clarissono.de/CS_Archiv/Akustik/A3_Klarinetten/A3K1_Intonationskurven/AkustikKlarIntonaKurven.html#todt
Another link that may prove informative I found on the website of Foglietta, a reed manufacturer from Germany from whom I have bought several boxes of their well made reeds. This is a very small firm run by a professional clarinetist near Frankfurt. The link is in English, but it does lose some of the meaning in translation, no doubt. He talks about the effect of the mouthpiece and how the various parts of the design will affect the tuning of the clarinet. He specifically mentions problems that arise from a bore mismatch. Something we have talked about.
http://www.foglietta.com/Itip4_.htm
I think one of the biggest challenges about playing on a German RB clarinet is geographical in nature. Those of us outside of Europe are much farther away from where they are made and repaired, and thus even the accessories like mouthpieces and reeds become a challenge to find and buy. I have spent countless hours researching sources for mouthpieces and reeds, not to mention a lot of money trying things out. I have even visited with Hans Zinner at his workshop and also Alexander Willscher who makes reeds in Nurnberg. The best way to find the right mouthpiece would be to go to the person making it and work with them directly. They would be able to measure your barrels and upper bore. You would then be able to try things and they could make adjustments until you both felt the result was good. I would offer this same advice regardless if you play on a French or German clarinet, but few of us can do this.
This would be true of the clarinets themselves. I was able to travel to Germany to pick up my Bb at the Wurlitzer workshop, but I was so inexperienced that I was clueless of what to expect these clarinets to sound like. By the time I bought my Leitner and Kraus clarinets I knew enough of what to expect that I immediately sent them back to them for adjustment, twice, until they finally got it where I wanted it. Even then, I ended up finishing the setup by adjusting some of the pads myself until they worked just right for me.
In addition, given how these clarinets are made, you are probably best to wait until the first overhaul until you start to address any intonation issues that would involve altering the tone holes or bore. The reason for this is the Germans, at least Wurlitzer, does not make a clarinet to play it's best out of the box when brand new. You should take into account that Wurlitzer and others apply lacquer inside the bore and all the tone holes when it is new. They do this to make sure that the wood breaks in very slowly to the moisture. Over a period of time, say one to two years or more, depending on how much you play, the lacquer will mostly wear off from use. When the clarinet is then sent in for the first major overhaul, they will remove the last of this lacquer and then repolish the bore. I have been told that this can also result in them having to retune the clarinet to take into account the changes they make to the bore when removing this lacquer. That is why whatever tuning you have when new, will most likely change after the first overhaul anyway. It is only then, after this first overhaul that the clarinet will loose some of the playing resistance and begin to reveal what it's true sound will be.
This may come as a surprise to many of you, but Wurlitzer and other German makers simply do things the old fashioned way in some respects. At first I thought this was silly that I would have to wait until this first overhaul just to know how well my clarinet would play, but I can't argue with the results. Only those of you that have bought new Wurlitzer's and been through that first major overhaul will understand what I am talking about. The sound is clearer, the response better and with less resistance. Yes, there are still some tuning issues with the sharpness in the left hand clarion on my Bb, but not as bad as before the overhaul. The clarinet seems to play more evenly also from note to note, register to register. I do see the fruit of their work.
I don't think this method would work well in as mass produced market like the big three French makers. Can you imagine buying a new Buffet and being told it would take one to two years to break in before you would know how good it will sound and play, and by the way, the clarinet will play with quite a bit of resistance until then. Yes, it is true that French clarinets also need to be broken in and I have broken in many, but nothing like this.
So my advice is to at least have the first major overhaul done by Wurlitzer before deciding to seek tuning help somewhere else. It just may be possible that your clarinet will come back from that overhaul with better tuning simply from the work that is performed to remove the lacquer in the bore and tone holes. If it still is not to your liking, then send it back or consult another specialist at that point. At least you will know the problem is not the result of all that lacquer in the tone holes and bore and you are finally down to the real wood.
Tom Henson
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Re: Problems with intonation in Wurlitzer Reform Boehm new |
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The Clarinet BBoard
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