Author: Micke Isotalo ★2017
Date: 2016-07-07 17:51
Sorry for a long delay, but here comes some updates and additions.
First, I notice from the Schreiber website that their clarinets are made for both 443 and 445 Hz (probably long and short barrel), so the 445 level on German clarinets obviously isn't as obsolete as I assumed.
The clarinets I've tried so far is an Uebel Austrian (Bb), a Schreiber full Oehler (Bb), a Leitner & Kraus Austrian (model 350, in A), a Leitner & Kraus Oehler (mod 320, in A) and a Martin Foag Austrian (also in A).
By the way, the smoothest, fullest and least vibrant overall sound I got with the Foag, with an Austrian mouthpiece (a Maxton HH) and Pilgerstorfer Concerto reeds.
The intonation of the Uebel and Schreiber I didn't test in detail since their overall sound wasn't what I was looking for.
The intonation of the Austrian large bore (typically 15 mm, on the Leitner & Kraus Austrian 15,5 mm) is said to be more tricky than on the traditional smaller German bore. I didn't find too much difference between the L&K German and Austrian models, but on the Foag the whole first register is quite flat (the whole second register is very good also on that one, especially with the Maxton mouthpiece).
As suggested and as an experiment, I also tried a 445 level. The throat tones rose by about 10 cents, but they were still 14-28 cents flat. The rest of the first register were 10-20 cents flat on that level.
Then the other day I tried a Buffet Divine and a Yamaha CSGIII (both in A), trying to keep changes in my embouchure and voicing to a minimum between notes and registers as in my previous tests, and guess what? Also on these clarinets the whole second register were very good, but the first register were similarly flat as on the German/Viennese horns! Especially on the Divine which was 11-24 cents flat from low g to third line Bb, while the Yamaha was only between 13 cents flat and 2 cents sharp at the same range. However, throat tones were better compared to the German clarinets, especially on the Yamaha with just +/- 2-5 cents (the Divine was 12-19 cents flat). The latter wasn't so surprising, since these horns are made for a 440-442 level.
Concerning the lowest notes, the CSGIII was with the thumb key, but low e to low f# were still 9-18 cents flat (and for some reason the low e was stuffy in sound with the thumb key, but not without it). The Divine was 21-27 cents flat on low e and f#, and "only" 15 cents flat on low f using the extra key for that note.
The tests on the CSGIII and Divine I did with a Vandoren BD5 mouthpiece, a Vandoren 56 3,5 reed and a tuning level of 442.
Should I stop blaming the makers of German clarinets? Or should I start blaming the whole industry?
My current Wurlitzer Reform Boehm's aren't perfect in intonation, but I don't have this kind of marked difference between registers. The trouble notes on these are just d# to f at the first line, which are really flat (up to 30 cents) and thus requires special fingering. But other notes are within about 5-7 cents, up or down and in both registers.
To be sure not to make unconscious corrections learned from years of playing on a certain instrument I also tried to keep the tuner on a fixed level and correcting each note according to that. I really had to work hard with the embouchure to get up the intonation in the first register, getting a rather pinched tone quality. To me that confirms that I'm at least not just playing unconsciously flat in that register.
Comments? Suggestions?
Micke Isotalo
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The Clarinet BBoard
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