Bass clarinet issue...

mv61700

I am a band director, and NOT a woodwind player. But I have a student in my band who is having trouble getting the second space A on her bass clarinet to play in tune. Anyone have any ideas how we can fix this??? Thanks!!!
 
There are folks here who can help you with that. It would be helpful to know if the throat A is flat or sharp. It is also important to know what note the student uses to tune the instrument by adjusting the neck.
 
It is flat by about 2 cents on the tuner...and she tunes to a concert B flat usually. Is there a better note to tune to? We noticed it when she was playing a half note passage from third space C down to second line G...the other notes are all in tune on the tuner...thanks!
 
Two cents on a tuner is for all practical purposes a negligible amount. She could easily raise the pitch by that amount by tightening the embouchure or by playing a bit softer. It is possible in some cases to raise the pitch of the A by increasing the opening of the A (and by connection the Ab) key by sanding the material at the foot of the key where it touches the body of the clarinet. You can also check the A to Ab linkage by slowly pressing the A key to see how far it travels before lifting the Ab key. It should move only about 1 mm or 1/32 of an inch. If there is more movement than that, it means that the Ab key may not be opening sufficiently. To make this adjustment, turn the screw atop the A key in small increments clockwise to close the distance. It is important that the 1 mm gap be left or a leak may be created when the A pad swells with moisture.

The written low C (Bb concert) is a good note to tune on bass clarinet. Remember that pulling out at the neck (or barrel) affects the short tube notes more than the long tube notes. So for example when the C an octave higher is sharp and the neck is pulled out to tune that note, it may cause the throat tones (Ab,G, A,Bb) to become flat. Oftentimes the tuning is a compromise between the two areas of the instrument. Again a discrepancy of 2 cents is negligible in the larger scheme of things.
 
Assuming she is human, if the biggest intonation problem when she plays bass clarinet is the throat A note is 2 cents flat, I can say with 100% certainly that the combination of this player and her instruments play with better intonation than any bass clarinet player with any bass clarinet on earth :)
 
That makes a lot more sense. Thanks for the correction. If the open G is in tune and the A is 20 cents flat I would go with opening the A key. If there is not enough cork to remove on the foot of the key, the touchpiece of the key can be bent upwards slightly. I would suggest that you take it to a tech for this adjustment. If the G is also flat you may need to push the neck in a bit to find a good compromise position.
 
great...thank you for your gracious, honest answer for someone whose worst instrument (obviously) is anything in the clarinet family!
 
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