 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: kerryklari
Date: 2023-12-21 23:17
I have an old bass clarinet which I only play for fun (and not very well). The mouthpiece that came with it was awful and it was very difficult to play anything beyond the chalumeau register. I now have a couple of new mouthpieces - one is a stock Lomax that has been modified to fit, and the other was made for the instrument by Ed Pillinger. The problem is the same with both of them.
The instrument is a bit flat in the chalumeau, about right in the clarion, and a bit sharp in the altissimo. I don't know if there's much I can do about that - maybe I could compensate more if I was a better player. I pretty much accept that that's how it is. However, it's markedly worse with some, but not all, of the reeds I have tried.
When I was struggling with the mouthpiece I got with the instrument, I bought a lot of different reeds, so have a good range to try out on the new mouthpieces. They fall into two groups:
Some of them play reasonably in tune (eg D'Addario Reserve cane reeds, various Légères) but are really poor in the upper clarion - ok up to about G, muffled and hard to get above that. Not bad again in altissimo.
Some (eg Harry Hartmann Fiberreed, Fibracell) are good throughout the clarion, good tone and it's easy to drop down into the upper clarion from the altissimo. These, though, are all really flat in the chalumeau - as much as a semitone in the worst instances.
I seem to have ended up with a choice of being able to play a reasonable range, or reasonably in tune, but not both. It's not to do with strength of reed because I can go from too soft to too hard in, say, the Légères, and the problem is the same across the spectrum. I simply don't know what to look for, or even if there is anything to look for. I would have thought that if there was a problem with the instrument, like a leaking pad, it would be the same for all the reeds.
Any thoughts or suggestions would be gratefully received.
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Author: Fuzzy
Date: 2023-12-21 23:49
KerryKlari,
Is your bass clarinet's neck the "goose" or the "swan" - hahaha!
Does the mouthpiece enter your mouth at an angle more like a saxophone, or more like a clarinet?
Have you ever had the chance to play other bass clarinets? If so, are the same problems present, or is this unique to your specific instrument?
From your description, and the steps you have taken - it made me curious about the embouchure being used.
Fuzzy
;^)>>>
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Author: kerryklari
Date: 2023-12-22 13:46
Hi Fuzzy
My instrument is the same as this one: https://feinwerkstatt.net/instrumente/bassklarinette-g-rudolf-uebel/
Fairly uncommon but not completely unknown - Ed Pillinger had made a mouthpiece for another one some time in the past. One of its unusual features is that the mouthpiece slides over the neck like on a saxophone. This is a bit of a problem because no standard bass clarinet mouthpiece will fit - I had the Lomax reamed out so although it has a tenon, the whole thing slides onto the neck. Tuning is by sliding the mouthpiece in or out a bit.
So, embouchure wise, I think "more like a saxophone" is the answer to your question.
I haven't played any other bass clarinet (well, once about 50 years ago!) and there is no chance that I could. I don't have a teacher or anyone else who could try the instrument. I'd happily have a teacher but I live in a remote part of rural Ireland and there simply isn't one to be had, so I'm sort of poking around in the dark trying to solve problems when I don't entirely know what the problem is. However, I have played saxophones, clarinets, even an oboe, in the past - none very well maybe, but I have some experience with reed instruments and I have never had a problem quite like this one before.
Thanks - KK
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Author: kilo
Date: 2023-12-22 17:32
That's a rather unique instrument and probably has unique tuning issues – optimally, you should be tuning to 441 Hz, according to the link you provided.
Post Edited (2023-12-23 18:27)
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2023-12-23 10:27
There could be a myriad of really esoteric problems. Firstly, the "specific mouthpiece" may have been entirely different in the shape and size of the bore and the tone chamber. So the intonation issues could just be right from the start and irrevocable without the correct dimensions and shapes in place (only a guess). Then there is the pitch of the horn. Do we know what pitch standard this horn is supposed to use? My German made Wurlitzer clarinets from circa 1984 were tuned to A=445. Those particular horns could be made to play down to A=440 but only just so and with some serious tweaking. If your base was meant to play higher than 440 then that could cause serious internal pitch issues.
As suggested above, get your hands on some form of standard bass (some friend or teacher in the area) and see what results you get before you go too far down what may be a dead end.
............Paul Aviles
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