[Dixielandjazz] Tuning

[Russ Guarino]

BrainTrust:

No one has yet brought this up, so maybe my experience may prove
enlightening.

My dad bought my first clarinet when I was age 12 and had no idea what he
was doing.  He was attracted to a beautiful metal "Colonial Continental" in
a brushed chrome finish barrel with bright chrome keys.

All metal.

Two years ago I had a Fourth of July gig in a local ocean community and we
played in the evening with a cold heavy fog rolling in.

I cannot remember why I did this, but I brought my regular wood Selmer, a
Plastic horn of bastardized parts and my metal clarinet.

Started with the Selmer wood clarinet & went out of tune big time within an
hour.  I switch to the plastic clarinet but could not get it in tune at
all.  I dug out the metal clarinet and Voile!! it played perfectly and did
not stray from where I started.  The leader was a piano guy and could not
figure out what I was doing.

A year later I was talking with a pro sax player who lived nearby and he
told me about a real good clarinet player that played in his neighborhood a
year ago on the Fourth of July. He had set up a chair outdoors and listened
in.  Whatdoya know, folks.  he was talking about me and my metal unit.

I have since read that metal is a good material for a clarinet, but plastic
is easier to manufacture and metal when out of fashion years ago. Thus
plastic is used for low cost, student, horns. Why we still use wood for the
premium clarinets, I don't know.  All I know is I have a good one in the
Selmer 10G.

Russ Guarino
Metal clarinet maven.

PS:  I live near the ocean and experience a lot of water in the horn and in
certain openings, the mid A key [ in the break ] and the the side D# & F#
keys. I watched Jim Cullins' clarinet guy, on stage in Monterey last May,
pull off his mouthpiece and swab his Selmer 10G while the band played & then
reassembled and continued. He was having the same water problem and had no
choice but to clear the horn.

Rag