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Am I the only crazy clarinetist with 5 barrels?

DrewSorensenMusic

Am I the only one that thinks there should be a "Barrels" sub-section here?

But that's not the main point, the main point is, I just ordered my 5th Bb clarinet barrel today. Geeze. It is the Clark Fobes 66mm. Not a cheap endeavor. My other barrels are in order of purchase:

1. Original Buffet R-13 Greenline barrel 66mm
2. Buffet Moennig barrel 65mm
3. Clark Fobes barrel 64mm
4. Clark Fobes barrel 65mm
5. Clark Fobes barrel 66mm (en route)

The first two Clark Fobes barrels I got were during the show "Urinetown" at Temple University, when I just couldn't seem to reach the pitch of the piano. I didn't have a good tuner at the time, but now realise just how poorly tuned that piano was. Anyhow, with my new Peterson Stroboflip tuner (and I highly recommend this tuner to everyone if they ask) I realize that even with the 65mm I'm playing quite sharp, so we come to the need for my 5th barrel. I guess I'm gonna keep all these other barrels as well, to have an arsenal in case some singer feels the need to belt "It's a Privelige to Pee" or some equally mind provolking number at a=447 while the reed section's lips bleed and those in the audience with hearing aids shout "Oh the humanity!"

The joys of doubling.
 
Why limit yourself? Do you use tuning rings to fill any eventual gap? Many here snicker at the idea. You might not notice the gap so much playing in a pit, but if you are sitting in front of a $3500 microphone and the guy sitting next to you in front of another $3500 microphone is using them, the guy sitting in the booth running those microphones will be noticing the difference, and the guy with the checkbook is on the couch behind him. Any gig is worth being at your best because you never know when Hollywood (or where-ever) might be checking you out.
 
MartinMods said:
Why limit yourself? Do you use tuning rings to fill any eventual gap? Many here snicker at the idea. You might not notice the gap so much playing in a pit, but if you are sitting in front of a $3500 microphone and the guy sitting next to you in front of another $3500 microphone is using them, the guy sitting in the booth running those microphones will be noticing the difference, and the guy with the checkbook is on the couch behind him. Any gig is worth being at your best because you never know when Hollywood (or where-ever) might be checking you out.
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Yes, I do believe that is a good idea, and will be the next purchase. At $10 for two, seems like small peanuts compared to the $600 I've already spent on a=440. BTW, they fit inside the barrel, correct?
 
DrewSorensenMusic said:
Yes, I do believe that is a good idea, and will be the next purchase. At $10 for two, seems like small peanuts compared to the $600 I've already spent on a=440. BTW, they fit inside the barrel, correct?
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Right, inside the barrel. You should get a few different thicknesses. A very thin gap can be just as bad as a wide gap, though in different ways.
 
MartinMods said:
Right, inside the barrel. You should get a few different thicknesses. A very thin gap can be just as bad as a wide gap, though in different ways.
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Well I don't know where to buy varying sizes. It seems the Muncy ones are 1/2 mm, and the buffet ones are unlabeled of size. Anyhow, I'll order the Muncy ones and have any size from 64mm to 67.5mm going in 1/2 millimeter steps. Hopefully anything else can be taken care of with breath and embrouchure control.
 
DrewSorensenMusic said:
Well I don't know where to buy varying sizes. It seems the Muncy ones are 1/2 mm, and the buffet ones are unlabeled of size. Anyhow, I'll order the Muncy ones and have any size from 64mm to 67.5mm going in 1/2 millimeter steps. Hopefully anything else can be taken care of with breath and embrouchure control.
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Sandpaper.
 
DrewSorensenMusic said:
I don't know if that would be exact enough. Would need calipers to measure the length to get it right, and that would be very time consuming and aggrivating.

I just ordered to Muncy tuning rings. Darn, now I have nothing to blame my poor intonation on.
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I mean you get some Muncy rings and rub a couple on sandpaper to make them thinner.
 
MartinMods said:
I mean you get some Muncy rings and rub a couple on sandpaper to make them thinner.
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Yes, I guess the point being if I sand side "a" down .2 mm, and side "b" down .3 mm, then it's not going to seal, completely defeating the purpose all together. I'm hoping increments of .5 mm are going to be enough.
 
DrewSorensenMusic said:
Yes, I guess the point being if I sand side "a" down .2 mm, and side "b" down .3 mm, then it's not going to seal, completely defeating the purpose all together. I'm hoping increments of .5 mm are going to be enough.
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You can make them out of 0.010", 0.020", 0.030" thick, acoustically approved plastic from the hobby shop. They have a nice little razor-tipped compass/circle cutter.
 
I have been carrying a Buffet 61mm barrel in addition to my standard 65 mm. Playing in cold rooms in the winter, and picking up the horn cold for the occasional double has made this a necessity. Some of this is probably due to my mouthpiece / embouchure. I switched to a very open John Pierce piece (1.40) for big band, and if you add in my focus on playing loose on sax, I'm always flat if I use the 65mm. If I sit down and play something classical on my Woodwind G10, then the 65mm is fine. I need to work more on flipping the switch in my brain when I am doubling, particularly when you have to pick up the black stick for 8 bars in the middle of a tune.
 
saxhound said:
I have been carrying a Buffet 61mm barrel in addition to my standard 65 mm. Playing in cold rooms in the winter, and picking up the horn cold for the occasional double has made this a necessity. Some of this is probably due to my mouthpiece / embouchure. I switched to a very open John Pierce piece (1.40) for big band, and if you add in my focus on playing loose on sax, I'm always flat if I use the 65mm. If I sit down and play something classical on my Woodwind G10, then the 65mm is fine. I need to work more on flipping the switch in my brain when I am doubling, particularly when you have to pick up the black stick for 8 bars in the middle of a tune.
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Well, I think you meant 64mm, so I'm going to talk on that assumption.

A Cold pit is exactly what was happening in Urinetown. Temperature is such a problem, especially in orchestras. Woodwinds go flat, the piano and other strings go sharp. I've recently been practicing in a warm room, and now the 65mm is crazy sharp, cause it's doesn't cool down when I put it down.

I'm playing on a Fobes Cicero 13, which has a short facing curve and a medium tip opening (1.04, like a 5rv, kinda). Anyhow, short facing curves are supposed to be (and for me consiquentially are) good on balancing intonation. So now it's level, just equally sharp all round :)

We play in the same theatre in March, A Chorus Line, Reed 1 for me, so with all the bells and whistles in hand I will give it my all to center that dial.
 
Actually, it is 61mm - I just measured it. I got it so long ago I can't even remember where. Possibly when I lived in Cortland, NY in 1979. It's grenadilla wood, and marked with the Buffet Crampon logo. I want to say I paid about $20 for it.

I don't often have it all the way in, so I suppose I am probably more in the 62-64mm range when I use it.
 
saxhound said:
Actually, it is 61mm - I just measured it. I got it so long ago I can't even remember where. Possibly when I lived in Cortland, NY in 1979. It's grenadilla wood, and marked with the Buffet Crampon logo. I want to say I paid about $20 for it.

I don't often have it all the way in, so I suppose I am probably more in the 62-64mm range when I use it.
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Wow, that's incredible. That's in the Eb barrel length section! :)
 
DrewSorensenMusic said:
Wow, that's incredible. That's in the Eb barrel length section! :)
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Yes, I've never seen anything close to it. I want to say those old click barrels went down to 63mm, but I've never used one. I've never played an eefer. Is it possible that's what this is? I would think the bore (and tenon receivers) would be much smaller. When I hold it up next to the regular barrel, it appears to be the same bore size, although I don't have a tool to measure ID.
 
saxhound said:
Yes, I've never seen anything close to it. I want to say those old click barrels went down to 63mm, but I've never used one. I've never played an eefer. Is it possible that's what this is? I would think the bore (and tenon receivers) would be much smaller. When I hold it up next to the regular barrel, it appears to be the same bore size, although I don't have a tool to measure ID.
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I was going to ask the same question. I would think the bore would be at least a tad smaller than an Bb, at least enough so that it wouldn't fit. I don't play eefer yet either, so I wouldn't know. But, if it ain't broke...
 
More likely an old C clarinet barrel. I have one of similar size I use on a poorly designed A clarinet. An Eb barrel would not be compatible with an A,Bb, or C clarinet, the bore is too small.

I've got a couple click barrels and would NOT be without them. They aren't particularly good as aftermarket barrels go, but their functionality for odd tuning situations makes them invaluable. They have saved me on a number of occasions where playing the clarinet would not have been an option due to high tuning pitch issues from pianos found and used at various venues.
 
DrewSorensenMusic said:
Wow, that's incredible. That's in the Eb barrel length section! :)
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Eb barrels are usually in the 40mm-44mm range. Mine has a 40mm barrel and it plays sharp. A 42mm barrel would work better. Of course some models are made with significantly different barrels than "normal" ones.

Carl H. said:
More likely an old C clarinet barrel.
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Possibly. My C clarinet barrels are 44.5mm and 46mm. I guess it's possible a C clarinet would have a much shorter joint with a much longer barrel.

61mm is most likely an original barrel that was shortened at some point, though I guess it could even be an original. Some players, especially sax players who double on clarinet, sometimes have barrels shortened drastically.

I only have two barrels for my main clarinet, the 63mm and 64mm original barrels that came with it. These sizes have great intonation since it is made for these lengths in mind (as opposed to the "normal" 66mm length). If having five barrels help you get what you want, no problem! Considering MartinMod's post about closing the gap, the maker of my clarinet actually recommends the barrels on his clarinets should be 1mm open for best inner intonation of the instrument and is actually made this way. I occasionally use the shorter barrel completely closed if it's cold and have used the longer barrels very open at ridiculous hot and humid conditions.
 
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