[Dixielandjazz] Clarinet Tuning

[Larry Walton Entertainment - St. Louis]

Well mine isn't 100% either but it's manageable.  I forgot to add that I 
eventually had my Selmer barrel cut down which is a whole lot cheaper than a 
click barrel and is better for the sound.

Instruments like mouthpieces have to fit you.  I have played horns that 
others rave about and can't see much to them.  That's why I still play on a 
Conn 10 M tenor rather than a Selmer or Custom Yamaha.  I really like Yamaha 
for the most part but I still cling to the Conn and have never replaced it. 
You might very well have played on an instrument and someone else play it 
differently.  I am convinced that what you do inside of your mouth, tongue 
placement and bone structure make a difference as to how a particular horn 
plays for you or in some cases don't.

I don't think that it's very productive to copy what someone else does with 
mouthpieces etc because it's a combination that works for you.  Horns play 
their part too.  I have played several high end clarinets and didn't like 
them as much as my 10G or my Bundy for that matter.

Speaking of my Bundy.  If I didn't have a lot of money I would look up an 
older Selmer Bundy.  I don't think you can beat one unless you spend a whole 
lot of money.  At least on mine the intonation is pretty good and it has a 
whole lot of volume with pretty good tone.  I kind of like the key layout 
too.
Larry
St. Louis
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Steve Barbone" <barbonestreet at earthlink.net>
To: "Larry Walton" <larrys.bands at charter.net>
Cc: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Tuesday, June 12, 2007 4:18 PM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Clarinet Tuning


> Larry - <larrys.bands at charter.net> wrote (polite snip)
>
>> Just a note on my Selmer G10.  When I started playing the instrument I
>> noticed that it was flat throughout the range.  I was a little surprised
>> since I had the original barrel joint and it appeared to be way too long. 
>> I
>> tried several things and I remembered I had a Click Barrel that they had
>> sent me to review when the thing first came out.  It worked shoved all 
>> the
>> way in.  I eventually bought the better Click Barrel and used it for some
>> time.  The instrument played really well and I had no significant 
>> intonation
>> problems from the short barrel.
>
> Hey Larry,
>
> My Selmer 10G was also a little flat, especially in the upper register. 
> What
> I did was go to as Moening barrel 2 mm shorter than the Selmer Barrel that
> came with the horn. Now the upper register is spot on, though the top 
> notes
> in the lower have become slightly sharp. So I lip them down a bit. (from D
> upwards to Bb) I also think the Moening changed my sound and volume for 
> the
> better, though the classical clarinet mavens think a brand switch on the
> barrel is akin to heresy.
>
> Clarinets are funny beasts. I have yet to play a clarinet that is 100% in
> tune with itself. And I always had a bit of trouble playing jazz on my 
> 1952
> Buffet. After Katrina, I sent it to Sue Loerchen, who presented it to Tom
> Fisher. Saw him recently on YouTube and with what looked like my trusty
> Buffet. He makes is sound a lot better than I ever could. :-) VBG
>
> Cheers,
> Steve
>
>
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