Fat Fingers

[robertstiffler]

Mar 29, 2014.

This is for newbies and Bbclarinet to bass clarinet switchers. Iam an old man, and have been playingclarinet 60 years or more. I am retiredelectrical engineer(20 years) and now a duffer musician. Mt first job 63 years ago was in a repairshop fixing band instruments. I stillhave many of my 60 year old tools. I nowplay clarinet (now mostly 2nd Bassoonparts transposed to bass clarinet) in my local small town symphony. Most all of our players have music degreesbut make a living with day jobs. I usedto play Bb and A clarinet in symphony, but there is a time in life when thefingers slow and eyes and ears loose their previous functionality, I now play bass clarinet because there aremore white notes and we have a real good first Bassoon player. I transpose a lot of Bassoon parts to Bassclarinet using Finale.

At any rate I bought an oldbeat up bass clarinet a few years ago ina local pawn shop, It has a "HubertBrothers" stamp on which is not recognizable by any one. I think it was built by Malerne in Paris. Anyway after3 weeks of re-padding, corking and drilling out rusted and frozen hinge rodsthe thing became playable. Now we allknow that pawn shop purchases are risky, particularly if the instrument is notworking. But after looking at the mechanicsof this beast, it appeared to be very nicely made, no cracks etc. so I bought for $500.

After playing beside my Solobassoon player for a few weeks I becamea bit excited about this old piece of junk. The scale (individual note pitches) on this instrument matches her$35,000 Heckel Bassoon just about perfectly all the way from low Eb to high C.

The only problem was that it seemedto squeak and not respond as it should. I was really at a loss as to what was happening. To make a long story short I found myfingers were bumping adjacent keys as I was playing because my hand positionover the keys was based on my 60 yeargrip on my Bb clarinet. It took me a fewweeks to solve the problem, I took aDremel grinding tool and narrowed the width of spatulas on a number ofkeys, I shortened the length of the Akey (throat tone) by maybe 3/8 of an inch. All of this helped considerably.

But the real clincher is/wasthat as I played the instrument my left hand was slanting up with respect tothe body of the bass clarinet. And theslanted fingers were hitting adjacent keys even after I had ground the keys tohave narrower spatulas. This soundscrazy, but I took a piece of string (dental floss) wrapped it around the base ofmy trigger finger, then tied that string to the clarinet (upper post on forkedEb key) which forces my left hand to stay more perpendicular to the bassclarinet.... Would you believe it? Nomore squeaks etc..The bass clarinet responds beautifully.

I pass this along cause ittook me quite a bit of time to figure it out, and it might save some newbieplayers some frustration.

Also, when I got this oldbass clarinet I had to buy a new case. The new cases sold are pretty generic and really do not secure theclarinet inside the case. To solve thisproblem, I went to the hardware store and got a scrap piece of this pinkpolyfoam insulation like they are using on new houses. It is about 1 inch thick. I cut pieces of this foam board that I gluedinto this generic case. Only the ends ofthe top and bottom joint of the bass clarinet are supported snugly in thecase. I very carefully adjusted theheight of these foam supports such that when the lid comes down, it gentlycloses all of the keys on the bass clarinet which gently keeps the pad seats closed when theinstrument is not in use.. I thencovered my work with black velvet from the fabric store.

I hope this may be useful tosomeone.
Bob Stiffler

 

[Gandalfe]

So Bob, how much do you have into this bass (cost + repairs)? I suspect you enjoyed the project horn but does it really live up to the standards of a pro player like yourself?

 

[robertstiffler]

Gandalfe:
As I indicated I paid $500 for the instrument. I spent about $250 for parts and a new case. I always have to buy 2 complete sets of pads when I redo an instrument in case I mess up a pad when I am installing it. I also had to buy some drill rod and a tap and die to remanufacture the frozen hinge tube rods. I buy my parts from Ferree's in Battle Creek, MI. I have been thankful to them because over the years they have filled my small orders graciously and speedily.

I think the instrument was built by Malerne. It is beautifully and thoughtfully built.
As with all clarinets, scale intonation is a real problem because the mathematics of building an instrument based on 12ths is really messy. I am really excited about the tuning of this instrument.

I indicated that it took some weeks of playing before I figured my fingers were brushing keys as I was playing. To avoid going across the break I became very aware of the usefulness of the upper joint trill keys. When playing the regular clarinet I really did not use the trill keys that much. I am now a believer. I did have to replace and strengthen some of the needle springs that were holding pads in the closed position.

I have never played a top of the line Buffet or Selmer' so I really do not know what "Good" is. This instrument plays easily and I can keep up with my solo bassoon player so I am a happy player.

Regards
Bob Stiffler

 

[pete]

If you're happy with it, it's a good horn.

 

[SOTSDO]

Over the years, I have taken to playing any throat Bb on any bass that lasts longer than a quarter note (in moving passages) or a quarter or shorter (in isolation) using the second trill key from the top with the A key. It takes a bit of getting used to, but it is a far better vent for the Bb tone than either the lower register key on a horn with the operating rod running from the lower joint to the top, or the lower one on the other type of horn.

Bass clarinets would benefit from a trio of register openings, just like on my Yamaha baritone. Added complexity, but compared to a saxophone or (shudder) a Frenchified oboe, it would amount to nothing.

 

[jbtsax]

It seems to me that the string tied to the finger might be a bit extreme. Do you play using a floor peg or use a neck strap? I would think that adjusting the height of the clarinet and keeping the left elbow down would accomplish the same thing. Maybe I'm missing something here.

 

[robertstiffler]

jbtsax.

Good Point.

I use a floor peg.
For me, the major function of my floor peg height adjustment is to get the mouthpiece located in my mouth for the best embouchure. I am pretty much convinced that the muscle memory in my left hand in locked in from playing the Bb Clarinet for 60 years and isn't about to change when my mind is concentrating on the notes which I am playing that are going by at a "hundred miles per hour".
I can tell that the string is really doing it's job cause after a practice session there is an 1/8 in groove in my finger from the string.
Regards
Bob Stiffler