Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2014-12-11 23:41
I've concocted an experiment (flawed, for sure, but interesting) in which I've assembled two independent upper joint/neck assemblies, one with a single register vent and the other with a double-vent system, to mate with the same lower joint/bell assembly for direct comparison of the two systems.
The unwilling volunteer for this experiment is Son of Frankenhorn, a barbaric but fine-playing contraption comprising (from top to bottom) a generic Chinese neck with upper register vent, a 1920s-vintage H. Bettoney bakelite-ish plastic upper joint, a 1930s-vintage Kohlert wood lower joint, and a homemade curved low-C extension terminating in an alto clarinet bell. This thing is ugly! But it works amazingly well, I've played several orchestra concerts and a couple of shows on it (it's a very compact design, fits in a standard low-Eb case despite the extended range). The Bettoney upper joint has a double manual register key system which takes a bit of practice to get used to and can be inconvenient in fast passages going between registers, but is very simple and reliable.
For the experiment I overhauled a standard Leblanc Vito "resonite" upper joint, with the minor improvement of slight tonehole undercutting, and a generic 'solid' neck (no register vent of course) that seems to work well with the instrument (I'd prefer an actual Vito neck but don't have one). I had to modify the lower tenon to accept a standard tenon cork and mate to the Kohlert lower joint, and slightly modify the bridge key, but that's all.
Just finished the Vito upper joint last night and played both versions of the complete instrument today, for long enough to get some first impressions, which are:
- The overall resistance and sound of the two beasts are surprisingly similar; the single-vent version (Vito upper joint) is not generally more stuffy or resistant anywhere in its range than the double-register vent version (Bettoney upper joint).
- Also suprisingly, the long clarion B/C of the single-vent version are not noticeable sharp (nor stuffy); the only intonation flaw seems to be some flatness (around -10 or -15 cents) in the middle of the clarion register, particularly the F through G. The lower clarion is pretty well in tune as are the upper clarion and altissimo.
- The lower register of the single-vent version is pretty well in tune throughout, though there is some lack of clarity and instability in a few of the notes around B through D. These problems of course have nothing to do with the register vents as the latter are all shut, but likely are caused by a bore mismatch or less-than-optimum neck on the Vito version.
Not sure if any conclusions can be drawn from this, but it's a bit of fun for your amusement.
|
|
The Clarinet BBoard
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
