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Re: Tuning Rings

Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2015-04-17 23:51

No. If there is a sudden widening of the air column (as there would be without a tuning ring to fill the space between the tenon and the inside shoulder of the barrel), some of the air may rush sideways into the gap as it hits the bottom edge (the top of the tenon), then as more air enters, be forced back out under the barrel shoulder, creating a circular air flow into and out of the gap. But now it's travelling at an angle, maybe as much as 90 degrees, to the original air stream, interfering with the straight-through flow of the air being blown into the clarinet by the player. I'm not sure that this cross-wind would affect the actual pitch, since that's determined by the frequency at which the air is vibrating, not its speed travelling down the tube. But I think - in theory - it could increase the feeling of resistance to the air flow the player is pushing into the mouthpiece.

If a ring is completely filling the gap (and its inside diameter matches the clarinet's entry bore), there will be a smooth, straight channel with no place for this extra side-wards movement to begin. Of course, if the barrel isn't closed down completely against the ring, you'll get the same effect, only with a smaller gap and less air being diverted and injected back across the main stream.

One possible argument against tuning rings is that, again in theory, but I think a more tenable one, you may actually get more flattening of the pitch by pulling out a millimeter without the ring than you will from putting in a one mm. ring. The added volume of air provided by the gap will add to the total volume of the air stream. Pulling the barrel and leaving a millimeter of extra space *around* the bore in addition to the millimeter of length added *to* the bore isn't a theoretical difference. So it might take a 2 mm ring to accomplish what pulling out 1 mm without a ring does.

Just to satisfy my own curiosity about the pitch effect, I just tried this comparison of pitch with and without a ring. Using my A clarinet (it was already out) and a 2 mm ring (the thickest in the set) I played C5 with and without the ring in place. To be as sure as possible that the barrel was out the same distance as the thickness of the ring, I held the ring on the outside of the tenon and closed the barrel down firmly against it, as it would have been when the ring was inside the barrel socket. Without the ring the pitch was 1 cent lower than with the ring. I assume - didn't try it for lack of time - that the difference in the throat register would be a little more pronounced.

Karl

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