Issues with middle B Natural & C - squeak

Beatles111

Hi all and Happy Easter.

I'm having an issue now with getting out the B natural and C just over the break. Going into the notes (I.e. playing a scale leading into a B and C) and it's ok but starting out with playing a B natural and a C results in difficulty getting out the notes - starts out with a squeak - out of nowhere as I've been practicing.

Anyone have any idea what could be causing this? I changed to a couple different reeds and same issue.

Thanks!
Stephanie
 
You probably have a leak on one of the large pads on the lower joint. This may be caused by poor adjustment of the area of the crows foot under the cluster of keys under the r/h pinky. There are several important adjustments here which interact with each other. If you;re not comfortable with adjusting it yourself then take it to a tech. It's not a major job and should only take a few minutes.
 
Without knowing your skill level, here are a couple more ideas.
1. Have someone else who is a proficient player play the horn to try to replicate the problem. If that happens, see Tony's post above.
2. If you have a teacher, have them observe you while you play. Sometimes when reaching for the pinky keys, you might be lifting one of your other fingers (usually your ring finger) ever so slightly. I've been playing clarinet for 55 years, and still catch myself doing this after a long layoff. It's probably a bit of a sloppy habit on my part from playing sax so much.
 
Tony Fairbridge said:
You probably have a leak on one of the large pads on the lower joint. This may be caused by poor adjustment of the area of the crows foot under the cluster of keys under the r/h pinky. There are several important adjustments here which interact with each other. If you;re not comfortable with adjusting it yourself then take it to a tech. It's not a major job and should only take a few minutes.
Click to expand...
Thank you for your reply! How can I tell if there is a leak? Oddly enough, when I practiced today, I was not having the problem. The only thing that changed from yesterday to today is that I had a bandaid on the tip of my middle finger on my right hand, and today I did not. Could that have caused the issue??
 
saxhound said:
Without knowing your skill level, here are a couple more ideas.
1. Have someone else who is a proficient player play the horn to try to replicate the problem. If that happens, see Tony's post above.
2. If you have a teacher, have them observe you while you play. Sometimes when reaching for the pinky keys, you might be lifting one of your other fingers (usually your ring finger) ever so slightly. I've been playing clarinet for 55 years, and still catch myself doing this after a long layoff. It's probably a bit of a sloppy habit on my part from playing sax so much.
Click to expand...
Yes, I was going to do that at rehearsal on Monday if the problem was still occurring...but it is not the case today, at least. Just really odd. I do have long layoffs at times (I've been playing for 35 years), but not recently. Been playing pretty consistently lately.
 
Testing for leaks.
Take a piece of very thin mylar film, the type often used for candy wrappers. Cut it into this strips, about an eighth inch wide. With the suspect pad, try placing the end of the strip partially over the hole and close the pad using normal finger pressure. Pull the strip out and feel how much drag there is. Do this in several places around the circumference of the hole. You'll find if there s an area where there is less drag. This is a likely place for a leak.
Place a small piece of plastic food wrap (Saran Wrap, Glad Wrap or similar) over the pad and close the pad. Now play that note. If it plays now but didn't before you have your culprit. Start with the lowest pad and work your way up the instrument.
 
If it's intermittent, then it may be that you are not covering the tone holes when transiting the break.
I have this happen, especially during quick runs back and forth over the break.

See if the problem exists while playing slowly, paying attention to the tone holes.
 
Tony Fairbridge said:
Testing for leaks.
Take a piece of very thin mylar film, the type often used for candy wrappers. Cut it into this strips, about an eighth inch wide. With the suspect pad, try placing the end of the strip partially over the hole and close the pad using normal finger pressure. Pull the strip out and feel how much drag there is. Do this in several places around the circumference of the hole. You'll find if there s an area where there is less drag. This is a likely place for a leak.
Place a small piece of plastic food wrap (Saran Wrap, Glad Wrap or similar) over the pad and close the pad. Now play that note. If it plays now but didn't before you have your culprit. Start with the lowest pad and work your way up the instrument.
Click to expand...
My observed my tech using a piece of xmass tree tinsel on an alligator clip to do the same.
(I collected a "wad" of tinsel 10+ years ago to do the same.... I'm on my 2nd strand...)
You don't need much.
I hope that this helps.
 
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