Clarinet Trivia

Steve

Steve

Clarinet CE/Moderator
Staff member
CE/Moderator
another thread got me thinking .... doing some clarinet trivia every so often

first up ......

Clarinet design has always had some weird things.
On some clarinets they have designed a tonehole in the middle tenon, basically a hole in the tenon with an accompaning tonehole in the lower joint that aligns with it.

so the question is
has any major maker has ever had more than one tonehole in the middle tenon, and if so, for what purpose ?
 
That's a hard and maybe too obscure one for me Steve. How 'bout an easy one.

Why do most clarinet manufacturers continue to split the instrument into five parts?

The split between the right and left-hand keys drives me to distraction. If you don't line them up just so, you can have keyword problems.

Do they do this for easier repair access? Last night I was wrestling with my bass clarinet and gritting my teeth because this shouldn't be so hard. Hey, they don't do that with the sax.
 
but in relation to your question ..

the barrel and body is separate to allow tuning

the two joints could be one piece until you think about the bore milling. Though they could mill it from two separate ends .. the upper joint (in tapered bores) is bigger at the top than the bottom. Whereas the lower joint is reverse.

it's also smaller and easier to carry in multiple pieces.
and allow for easier repair if you drop it and crack the bell. you only have to replace the bell and not the entire body !!

plus ... it's easier to find smaller pieces of wood then one gigantic piece to mill a clarinet out of.

There are makers out there, such as Rossi, which does make a one piece body, excluding barrel and bell.


the sax isn't milled from a big chunk of wood. Though you could create a middle joint that "snaps" together you would then have to have multiple bridges for the keywork that goes from top to bottom.
 
Gandalfe said:
Why do most clarinet manufacturers continue to split the instrument into five parts?
Click to expand...
Since you are mainly talking about the middle tenon, there are many advantages to this.

  • For more than one reason, easier to make a joint than the full length.
  • If something happens during manufacture, only half is ruined and not the whole body.
  • Better accuracy for boring and drilling a shorter length (someone told me that, on a factory tour, he saw they were making a one piece bass clarinet unsupported - he could see it flex in the middle between centers!).
  • If a major accident happens after sale, possibly only one part needs to be replaced.
  • The middle tenon allows tuning there, which sometimes is important.
  • The middle tenon allows the player some changes in alignment of the top and bottom joints, to their preference of hand positions (some models have the PRAG, a system that controls alignment, the most recent of those I've tried aligned the joint in a way that for me was uncomfortable).
  • With a correct shape and adjustment of the bridge key, there would be no problems at all with any keys with slight changes of aligment.
  • Much easier to repair, check and find leaks.
  • Can be disassembled to fit in a much smaller case that is easier to carry and fit in some places (e.g. inside a regular bag).
  • Beginners, especially kids, learn about taking care of the instrument and some mechanics by learning to properly assemble the instrument.
  • I'm sure there are many more I forgot ATM.
There are some disadvantages too, but pretty small in comparison, so I won't even mention them :)

Re the other parts, the barrel is very helpful for tuning and the mouthpiece for using whatever mouthpiece a player prefers. The bell also obvious for manufacturing reasons.
 
Gandalfe said:
That's a hard and maybe too obscure one for me Steve. How 'bout an easy one.
Click to expand...
trivia is supposed to be kinda obscure ....

but it is an oddity ...... so we'll try something else ....

but the answer is Buffet in the early 1930s

had this twin tonehole C#/G# enhanced boehm clarinet
http://www.ClarinetPerfection.com/galleryclar/Buffet/sn6423/04.jpg
http://www.ClarinetPerfection.com/galleryclar/Buffet/sn6423/05.jpg

and two separate mechanisms for C#/G#. Normally a sliver key on the RH (Right Hand) operated the same LH mechanism .... but not this one. They were independent.
http://www.ClarinetPerfection.com/galleryclar/Buffet/sn6423/60.jpg
http://www.ClarinetPerfection.com/galleryclar/Buffet/sn6423/52.jpg
 
The masses respond:

"It's too complicated!"
"It won't stay in regulation!"
"It takes away a cross-fingered fingering for A12!"
"You can't pull the center joint for tuning purposes!"
"Repairmen will not be able to repair it!"

And, as those of the Victorian era were fond of saying in their endless, boring letters to their superiors, "Etc & etc".....
 
Unless someone saw fit to reinvent the wheel, I can't see that there ever would have been a need. The earliest keying was sprung by flat springs, and the A key has been there since Denner decided to remove the flute pedigree from the recorder and make it legitimate. Why change?
 
... Which proves that no matter how much trivial knowledge you have, someone always has more :p.

On a related topic, you've gotta wonder how much clarinet technology is in the, "We've always done it that way because there's not a better/cheaper solution."

I'd assume that probably the last new clarinet design that was widely adopted was the "paperclip" contra clarinets. What's the group opinion?
 
SOTSDO said:
Unless someone saw fit to reinvent the wheel, I can't see that there ever would have been a need. The earliest keying was sprung by flat springs, and the A key has been there since Denner decided to remove the flute pedigree from the recorder and make it legitimate. Why change?
Click to expand...

actually there was a major manufacturer that used a needle spring on the throat A ........ for quite some time ...... more recent than earlier too ......
 
The Selmer USA company in their Signet line (100, Special & Soloist)
used a needle spring on the throat A key

cl01a.jpg
 
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