 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: Chris P
Date: 2024-05-20 15:48
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0zZCDU72gE
Always hold the LH2 ring key down during assembly just to be on the safe side and that applies across the board on all Boehm system clarinets.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
Post Edited (2024-05-20 16:15)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Chris P
Date: 2024-05-20 16:53
Attachment: P5140001.JPG (683k)
Attachment: P5140002.JPG (649k)
Attachment: P5160001 (1).JPG (671k)
Attachment: P5160001 (2).JPG (672k)
And this is how I recommend holding the joints during assembly and more specifically, holding down the keywork in such a way that you're not going to bend anything.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
Post Edited (2024-05-20 16:55)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: donald
Date: 2024-05-20 17:22
I always tell my students about the time (when I was 10 years old and the bell got stuck because I'd left it on for 2 weeks) I got my dad to remove the bell and he bent the E/B pad/key with his THUMB while trying to twist the bell off. The local repair man had a 3 week waiting list, so it was mailed off to a shop in Auckland where it ended up taking 3 weeks anyway... all a giant pain in the rear end (and expensive to boot).
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: kdk
Date: 2024-05-20 17:26
What is his problem with the cork grease container? Even with a chapstick-style dispenser, you still have to spread the grease around with your fingers. (Or maybe he doesn't.)
Not to mention the mess of grease that he spilled out over the side of the middle tenon - it's almost under the G# pad. That'll be a mess to clean up.
Karl
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Chris P
Date: 2024-05-20 17:33
"The local repair man had a 3 week waiting list"
I can't understand why, even with being up to my eyes in repairs (and currently a three month waiting list), that some repairers have no room for simple or emergency repairs like this which ANY repairer can fit in at any point in time in between repairs or stages in an ongoing repair.
That's just arrogance on the repairer's part. It doesn't take much to accommodate such emergencies which may take from half an hour to maybe an hour tops and they're hardly going to disrupt anything if they plan ahead and set up the appointment and both parties stick to that.
Just the other day I managed to fit in a customer who wanted the RH3 B/F# sliver key shortened and reshaped on his C clarinet so he didn't keep catching it by accident as well as still being able to use it in its new shortened state.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Mad Music
Date: 2024-06-06 08:22
Hey everyone,
I'm the guy who made the video and I think one of my favorite things about making these videos is that I'm learning a ton too! I will definitely be holding that key down, applying cork grease better, and working on my grip while assembling.
You'd be surprised at the things they DON'T teach you when you are going through your pedagogy classes as a music ed. major, but I have been able to fill in a lot of gaps by putting all of my inadequacies out there for the public to ridicule haha. I can go on and on about the inner workings of percussion, grip, set-up, etc. but unless you specifically search it out it's tough to get everything down about every type of instrument that isn't your "main".
At any rate, I hope you got a kick out of the video
-Chase
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: donald
Date: 2024-06-06 16:30
Hey, I'm sure you're a really nice guy- you seem pretty friendly. But I'm left wondering, if you're not an expert in something, WHY make a video about it? What would lead you to think that was sensible or appropriate?
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: SecondTry
Date: 2024-06-06 18:41
I'm curious what people think of this approach.
I am all for, endorse, and engage in methods to assemble my clarinet consistent with what Chris P has shown. I do though take a slightly different approach.
After taking the instrument out of my case and applying cork grease to the 4 corks I lightly assemble the clarinet's 4 pieces, say 1/2 the way to completion: this requiring little force, but enough assembly that nothing is going to come loose on its own.
I then grab with my right hand as per Chris, but my left hand is somewhere near where the barrel and mouthpiece interface and then use the opposing forces of both hands to bring all sections to their maximum insertion points, fine tuning the adjustment of the lower and upper joint's fork connection thereafter.
Please know that I bring the sections together enough that the torque and opposing forces I apply has no (this is going to sound like engineer speak) angular force: it's strictly torsional force and and pressure whose vector is perfectly parallel with, and towards the center of the instrument. In the absence of such angular force I don't worry about cracking a section's tendon.
I should probably explain what I mean by angular force here. Imagine a long stick I might break in half by pushing down on it over my leg. Well that type and direction of force there is none of.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: kdk
Date: 2024-06-06 22:19
SecondTry wrote:
> After taking the instrument out of my case and applying cork
> grease to the 4 corks I lightly assemble the clarinet's 4
> pieces, say 1/2 the way to completion: this requiring little
> force, but enough assembly that nothing is going to come loose
> on its own.
>
I don't want to quibble with this - it should work, but I wonder what advantage there is in only partially assembling all the joints before fully seating any of them. If the corks are optimally greased (not too much, not too little), they shouldn't need much force to go in completely.
I would only worry about applying cork grease before you know if fresh grease is needed. Too much grease on specific corks can have annoying effects - e.g. the barrel sliding all the way down while you play after you've pulled it out a half mm or so for tuning, or the center joint separating even slightly, which at best can misalign the bridge keys. (I once had a lower joint end up on the floor - the cork was a little worn out and I had too much grease on it.) ![[frown]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie2.gif)
Karl
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: SecondTry
Date: 2024-06-06 23:18
kdk wrote:
> SecondTry wrote:
>
> > After taking the instrument out of my case and applying cork
> > grease to the 4 corks I lightly assemble the clarinet's 4
> > pieces, say 1/2 the way to completion: this requiring little
> > force, but enough assembly that nothing is going to come
> loose
> > on its own.
> >
>
> I don't want to quibble with this - it should work, but I
> wonder what advantage there is in only partially assembling all
> the joints before fully seating any of them. If the corks are
> optimally greased (not too much, not too little), they
> shouldn't need much force to go in completely.
>
> I would only worry about applying cork grease before you know
> if fresh grease is needed. Too much grease on specific corks
> can have annoying effects - e.g. the barrel sliding all the way
> down while you play after you've pulled it out a half mm or so
> for tuning, or the center joint separating even slightly, which
> at best can misalign the bridge keys. (I once had a lower joint
> end up on the floor - the cork was a little worn out and I had
> too much grease on it.)
>
> Karl
For me, it's just that the forces counteract each other to facilitate and speed assembly.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Mad Music
Date: 2024-07-11 00:58
I didn't make it as a "how to" for clarinet assembly etc. I made it as a "my thoughts about this instrument" using my experience as a band director. I'm fairly explicit about not being an expert in the video. My main goal is to make slightly educational mostly entertaining videos about music that might get someone watching exciting about trying out band or an instrument they might otherwise not thought possible.
It also gives me an excuse to buy instruments my students can use for free when I otherwise wouldn't have the means/excuse to buy them.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.JPG){kind=link}
.JPG){kind=link}
