 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: oca
Date: 2012-02-22 23:36
Unfortunately for my friend, her E-11 (wooden) has developed a mysterious problem and now she has to resort to her starting clarinet. I don't want to bring it into the shop yet as the process is expensive and time consuming; hopefully the board will have some insight, however I doubt this community will relate to this as this clarinet has been fairly abused and clarinets owned by board members have been treated like a family member.
The E11 had much resistance in sub-clarion to the point where no sound was being produced. With added and unnatural effort, notes can be played, but mysteriously they were all overblown a 12th. Into the clarion register, notes are playable but they project weakly. There are some notes in the clarion that overblow into the altissimo when given adequate breath support.
My first instinct was to check the register key for leaks. Nope.
Then then other leaks. Nope.
I substituted a different barrel and a different mouthpiece and it still played horribly.
Upon closer inspection, I noticed that the clarinet's pads were brown...
I asked her and to my horror, she has never swabbed the clarinet. The clarinet was originally her sister's and the clarinet was idle for about a year before my friend received it. I assume the the clarinet is 6-10 years old.
My guess is that the clarinet's upper joint has swollen due to the moisture left unswabbed after each practice session and somehow is causing the register key to malfunction. Moisture is also very concentrated near the top the clarinet; without swabbing it daily it just might have the potential to do the damage.
I tested my hypothesis by using the wooden barrel. The engraving is unreadable, but I assume it is the tapered (radius at one end of the barrel is different than the radius at the other end) stock Moening barrel. My reasoning was "if the moisture did cause warping to the upper joint, then barrel must be warped as it precedes the upper joint, thus I should expect an unexceptional performance from it".
When tested, the Moening performed surprisingly well. However I did think of a reason why the barrel was not affect but upper joint was. First the tapering, might have allowed the barrel to warp and "even out" to make the barrel resemble a straight barrel.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: DAVE
Date: 2012-02-23 00:55
Too easy. It most likely is the throat G# key not closing all the way. Check the throat A key and make sure there is a little play in it BEFORE it contacts the G# key. If it's not there, then it could be any of the trill keys not closing all the way. Any of these keys can act as a register key forcing the clarinet to jump into the clarion.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: clarnibass
Date: 2012-02-23 05:00
>> Then then other leaks. Nope. <<
Did you really make sure tehre are no leaks? Because it definitely sounds like a leak. Did you at least try to close all the keys (check upper joint and lower joint each seperately) and blow air into the clarinet to check that seals? Most leaks are pretty easy to find.
>> I don't want to bring it into the shop yet as the process is expensive and time consuming <<
Hmm... maybe find another shop? A lot of repairers would check an instrument for free and unless the problem is a bit trickier, it is usually possible to find a leak relatively fast.
>> My guess is that the clarinet's upper joint has swollen due to the moisture... <<
This and rest of your "guess" is IMO getting a bit too far for now, when the problem really sounds like a leak, or maybe more than one leak. First check (you, someone else, or a repairer) whether there are leaks or not by various methods. Only then look into other options.
The throat A to G# adjustment that Dave suggested could definitely be the issue.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2012-02-23 07:02
The throat G# was my first and immediate thought as well.
--
Ben
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: clarnibass
Date: 2012-02-23 16:37
>> How would I go about fixing a leak? <<
You first find the cause of the leak. This can be a torn pad, a stuck hinge, a bent key, an adjustment issue, a pad not glued anymore (but still there), a chipped tone hole, a crack, a leaky tenon joint, a hole through the body, a loose hinge, or several other possibilities. It can be any one or more than one of any combination of these issues. After you find the cause, you fix it e.g. replace a torn pad, straighten a bent key, tighten a loose hinge, etc.
Did you check for leaks like I described in the previous post? Did you find any?
BTW the most common method for fixing a leak is to give the clarinet to a repairer.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: oca
Date: 2012-02-23 23:18
I double checked and sure enough there was a throat A leak.
Thank you all
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
