 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: daustin
Date: 2011-06-29 17:43
In about 1938 I sat second to a player who played music for the A clarinet by use of an internal string of sorts on his Bb. The how, why and what of it has puzzled me for 70 odd years. Can anyone enlighten me? Is it available now? Rhetorical since I have an A.
Donald L. Austin
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Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2011-06-29 18:07
Donald,
The explanation is relatively straightforward. For a given length tube, the narrower the bore, the lower the instrument's pitch. This is why some clarinet manufacturers use a smaller bore for their A clarinets than they do for the Bb's. The smaller bore enables them to shorten the instrument and reduce finger spread.
Putting a string down the bore has the same effect as reducing the bore's diameter, thus lowering the instrument's pitch. If you have the right size string (cord?), you can lower the pitch to the point where you effectively have an A clarinet. To the extent, the reduction is not perfectly uniform and the shape of the bore has been changed, using the string is not a perfect solution (also hard to make quick changes between Bb and A ). You can see the effect quite easily. Take your mouthpiece and blow into it to create its natural tone. Now, while you are playing that tone, insert your little finger part way into the end of the mouthpiece (without completely blocking the end, of course). The pitch will fall. I can play the chorus to "Jingle Bells" on my mouthpiece alone using this technique. You probably can, too.
If you search
Best regards,
jnk
Post Edited (2011-06-29 18:10)
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Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2011-06-29 19:19
I would think so, David. I've never seen this trick done but I have a cousin-in-law who has. He was playing principal in a per-service orchestra when a guest conductor pulled out his "magic" clarinet shoelace. The conductor said that he had spent years finding just the right one and offered it to my cousin (against a pledge of his first-born). My cousin, who is a wizard at transposition said he didn't need it. The second clarinetist used it, however, and my cousin swears it worked like a charm. Certainly, it would have to have sufficient diameter to lower the pitch appreciably. I doubt a piece of string would have that. It also seems to me that the optimum size would vary with different bore diameters.
I have a bunch of different sized wooden dowels in the basement. Whenever this topic comes up, I tell myself to try experimenting with them to see what size it would take. Maybe someday I'll remember to try it.
Best regards,
jnk
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Author: SteveG_CT
Date: 2011-06-29 20:04
David Pino described the string tuning device as have a cord similar in diameter to a standard clothes line. I take this to mean the diameter was somewhere between 1/4" and 3/8" but unfortunately no detailed dimensions were given. If you check the search function I believe someone actually posted a picture of one of these string tuning devices in an older thread.
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Author: davyd
Date: 2011-06-29 21:41
I'm inclined to think that if this device were truly viable, then someone would have invented and patented it, and would be selling it. The demand is certainly out there. I'd like to see a similar device for bass clarinet as well.
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2011-06-29 21:54
davyd wrote:
> I'm inclined to think that if this device were truly viable,
> then someone would have invented and patented it, and would be
> selling it.
Might be a tough job - just as you can't patent a reed, or an ordinary barrel. Too much "prior art", not enough original thought.
You may patent the *design* of a specific contraption, but not the string per se.
--
Ben
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Author: davyd
Date: 2011-06-30 14:22
All duly noted. I'd still like to have one of these things, though. Professionals are appropriately expected to be perfect in every way. But down here at the community level, failing to handle a transposition properly can be more of a problem than less-than-perfect tone, particularly when you're sight reading.
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Author: daustin
Date: 2011-06-30 16:36
All good stuff. After 73 years I'm the wiser!. Thanks
Donald L. Austin
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Author: Wes
Date: 2011-06-30 18:32
Yes, I recall using the string in my Noblet Bb before I bought an A clarinet in about 1948 for use in a university orchestra. A hardwood dowel would be better as it does not absorb the sound like a string or cord.
I hold in my hand a simple system HP clarinet which can be converted to a standard pitch instrument with the insertion of a small dowel. The dowel can be carved to be thinner near the mouthpiece to tune it better and also can be cut in pieces, one for each section of the clarinet, and glued in place!
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Author: Tony Pay ★2017
Date: 2011-06-30 21:46
Wes wrote:
>> Yes, I recall using the string in my Noblet Bb before I bought an A clarinet in about 1948 for use in a university orchestra. A hardwood dowel would be better as it does not absorb the sound like a string or cord.>>
I'm sorry, but I don't support this view. The dowel, of whatever diameter, doesn't lower the pitch sufficiently; and the string compromises the response too much to be acceptable.
>> I hold in my hand a simple system HP clarinet which can be converted to a standard pitch instrument with the insertion of a small dowel. The dowel can be carved to be thinner near the mouthpiece to tune it better and also can be cut in pieces, one for each section of the clarinet, and glued in place!>>
The change from high pitch to low pitch is less than a semitone, and so may be tractable.
Davyd wrote:
>> All duly noted. I'd still like to have one of these things, though. Professionals are appropriately expected to be perfect in every way. But down here at the community level, failing to handle a transposition properly can be more of a problem than less-than-perfect tone, particularly when you're sight reading.>>
In my experience, you have no hope of producing acceptable results using this gimmick. I have played in concert, and indeed on recordings, using a similar system to lower the pitch of a clarinet by a few vibrations; but a semitone is too much.
Tony
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