 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: almostclarinet-ist
Date: 2009-08-10 00:14
The B on my Bb clarinet which I believe is the second highest B the instrument can play, one of the first notes after the open G note, one day all of a sudden sounded dirty for lack of a better description and has ever since. My case didn't get tossed around or anything so I'm not sure what could have caused this to happen. I need to use a lot of extra air now to make the note sound half decent but it doesn't sound anywhere near as crisp and nice as it used to. It sounds downright filthy. Is there anything I can do myself to try to see what is wrong and perhaps attempt to fix it? Thanks for any answer and sorry if my question is a bit improperly worded, I am self taught and play about 8 instruments (depending on whether a couple count as instruments I can actually play). And I do mean B on the clarinet, not a concert pitch B but it's probably redundant to say that on a clarinet forum.
Judas Priest - J.S. Bach - Jelly Roll Morton
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Curinfinwe
Date: 2009-08-10 00:26
There's probably a bent key, possibly the right hand C key on the lower joint. This can be caused by putting pressure on that cluster of right hand pinky keys during assembly or disassembly, and should be an easy and quick fix for any good tech. ( I literally just walked in the door after having that fixed myself... :P)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: clarnibass
Date: 2009-08-10 03:48
You are talking about the B that you use the pinky key for, right? Does it sound any better if you play this note using the left pinky B key but also at the same time press the right pinky C key? How wbout the opposite, press the right pinky B key and also the left hand pinky C key, any improvement?
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2009-08-10 18:58
Could also be a loose or slightly damaged pad, or a little bit of crud stuck on the edge of the pad, that prevents it from closing tightly and lets in a tiny bit of air. It doesn't take much of a leak to make mid-staff B rough-sounding and hard to blow. Usually that B will cause trouble while the lowest E will still sound okay. A tiny bit of crud trapped inside the tone hole can mess up the tone quality, too, although that wouldn't usually make the note hard to blow.
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2009-08-10 19:31
You all need to start thinking outside of the box. Instead of trying for fix the one note that sounds different from the rest, why not DEGRADE every other note on the clarinet to match the mid-B?
Problem solved.
You're welcome!
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: almostclarinet-ist
Date: 2009-08-16 15:59
Thanks everyone for responding. After reading Curinfinwe's response I thought I might be able to bend the little metal arm and get the key to work, which kind of worked at first and it sounded a lot better but of course I felt like it still wasn't quite right and I could get it even better so I tweeked with it a little more until I killed any progress I had made and now can't get it to sound better at all. Thanks to clarnibass for the alternate fingering suggestions, most of which are on the fingering chart I have acquired. I tried them and to my dismay discovered that with that group of 3 levers on the left towards the middle (while playing) that the ones that are supposed to make the tones go up work but not the ones that are supposed to make the tone go down. There's a small chance I might be remembering that in reverse but I think I have it right. I guess my clarinet is more broken than I realized. Since I got this clarinet the single button on top you're supposed to hit for the A right below that B (on the staff) hasn't worked but I made up an alternate fingering that I have never seen on a chart consisting of the half-step lever on the upper left and one of those 4 levers on the mid-upper right. I thought I could get by without taking it in to a music shop but it looks like the problems with it are really piling on. :\ Thanks for all your suggestions!
Judas Priest - J.S. Bach - Jelly Roll Morton
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: JJAlbrecht
Date: 2009-08-16 23:37
If you are discussing the middle line B in the staff, try also depressing the throar A key while you are fingering the normal B. This can open up th esound a great deal with negligible effects on tuning, depending on your particular instrument. On my horn, it gives it a much nicer tone, but sharpens the pitch just a little.
Beyond that, take the instrument to a competent technician and have him/her give it a thorough inspection.
Jeff
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: JJAlbrecht
Date: 2009-08-16 23:47
As a side note, Tome Ridenour discusses this problem on his YouTube video. Go to the YouTube site and search "Billyboy647" and then look for the video on getting rid of the "Killer B."
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2009-08-17 02:03
Much of this recent thread covers the same topic area:
http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/read.html?f=1&i=308309&t=308309
Post Edited (2009-08-17 02:04)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
