Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2011-06-24 17:09
The second register key is only easy to add if it is manually operated (and even then, sizing and placement of the second vent requires a certain amount of trial-and-error to get right). To 'upgrade' a single automatic register vent system to a double AUTOMATIC vent system is not a trivial task. I build entire low-C extensions just for fun, but I'd be hesitant to take on the designing and installation of a double automatic vent system onto a single-vent instrument.
On small-bore bass clarinets such as Oehler-system instruments (I have a very nice F. Arthur Uebel model), double manual register keys are no problem at all, because the 'normal' lower vent is quite usable right up into the altissimo range, with only a slight degradation of response and pitch as you get up into the upper clarion -- so for faster passages there's no reason at all to shift to the second register key. For more sustained passages when there's time to shift, the second (upper) key sounds and feels a bit better. However, the larger the bore of the instrument, the more of a compromise a single vent becomes. I played all through my college years on a single-vent Noblet so I have personal experience in "getting by", but in my opinion a decently-designed double-vent system is usually superior for response and intonation in the clarion register. True, it's more finicky.
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The Clarinet BBoard
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