My clarinet is playing flat - how can I fix it?

Question

First of all I understand that most people's first (and very reasonable) place to look to improve intonation is at the technique of the player: embouchure quality and technique, air support, maybe quality of reed, etc. I have been following this advice for a couple of years now and it hasn't improved the general flatness of most pitches, especially "throat" pitches I think they're called.

For some background, I mostly play brass instruments with some traditional jazz bands, and have been working for a few years on the clarinet to "bring it out of the closet" eventually. I mostly play clarinet with myself for practice and this feels comfortable. But when I play with a backing track, or at jams with others, it is obvious that I have to play much sharper than I do in my own practice without a pitch reference, and I am constantly "lipping up" every pitch to try to be in tune, often "breaking" entirely when playing with others. I can lip up some pitches to be in tune, but nearly half of them, no matter what I do, cannot get any sharper without breaking/squeaking.

At this point I'm convinced that, though I may not have perfect technique, that there is something mechanical at work that cannot be overcome with technique alone. I think the instrument is just playing flat for whatever reason(s). Having done some research it seems a good number of things can affect pitch, from mouthpiece, barrel, and the tapers of things.

I don't live in a big city, and I don't think there's any place in my area where I can go in and try out different mouthpieces and barrels to try to figure out what might help. Nor is there anyone that works on clarinets in my area that I know of who I could speak with.

As far as specs go, I'm playing a

• Buffet Crampon R13 Bb
• B 660 barrel (66mm)
• Vandoren B40 mouthpiece
• All reeds I've tried have no effect on the issue

I've most recently considered buying a 65mm or 64mm barrel to see if this would help, but I understand that this does not affect all notes equally. And the barrels are not cheap ($170-190).

I'm wondering what you smart folks would recommend I do, check, or consider.

--- UPDATE ---

As for the actual pitch, I've confirmed with a tuner that most notes in what seems to me to be the most free-blowing resonant focused tone are between 10 and 30 cents flat. This is less towards the bottom of the instrument with more holes covered.

I've uploaded a video to youtube trying to demonstrate the issue. Bear in mind that I'm not trying to get the greatest constant tone here. I'm trying to demonstrate the tone quality at a lower pitch compared to the choked deadened quality that results from trying to play at the proper pitch. It also demonstrates that the sharpest I can manage to play on most notes, is still under proper pitch, and I couldn't play sharp on purpose if I wanted to. It also demonstrates that the flat effect is worse with fewer holes covered, and is progressively more accurate with more holes covered. In the higher register the cracking is a result of trying to play "up" or lip up the pitch to be more accurate and it is very tense and pretty awful to play and hear. When the horn has its most resonnant natural tone, it's quite flat.

Also please be kind, I'm not an expert. Just trying to figure out why my sound comes out 10-30 cents below proper pitch.

Thanks!

Answer 1

The first thing to try is playing another clarinet. If that's flat as well, it's you. If not, start looking for mechanical solutions. But it seems unlikely that what seems to be a standard, reasonable quality instrument would be 'built flat'.

Answer 2

With an instrument that is consistently playing flat, the first thing to try would be a new barrel. Your 66mm barrel is the standard, but you can easily find a 65mm or 64mm to try. The shorter barrel will shorten the instrument and make it play sharper.

Answer 3

Even if you are "out in the boonies," I strongly recommend getting an expert to evaluate your axe. This may entail mailing it off to some clarinet repairman and waiting for him to return it with a report, but that's the best way to determine for sure whether it's the instrument or your technique that is at fault.

By the way, are you absolutely 100% sure you bought a Bb and not an A clarinet?

Answer 4

Edit - additional info

I created a video of me trying to re-create the tone and intonation problems that you have and I think I succeeded:

Then I changed to my normal setup and embouchure and recorded a little more:

If you're not familiar with strobe tuners, when the blue bars on the screen are going up, the note is sharp, when they are going down, the note is flat. There's also a display of cents sharp/flat.

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Original post

I’m sorry to have to say this but both the tone you have in the video as well as your clear ability to lip the notes into tune suggest that it might not be your clarinet, it might be you. Your embouchure seems off to me. Your tone seems quite reedy and not round.

I wish I could tell you simply what to change, but it could be so many things, and is probably a combination. Before buying anything I would take a one hour lesson with a good teacher. At least they should be able to confirm for certain whether it’s you or the clarinet.

As for things to try, could be too little mouthpiece in your mouth, not a firm enough embouchure, air too slow, tongue not high enough, chin not pointed properly, and of course all of these interact with each other. I would start by trying to get as much mouthpiece in your mouth as possible, with your lower lip halfway between the tip of the reed and the top of the ligature. You will probably have to adjust your tongue position. It should be convex towards the roof of your mouth, with the tip of your tongue just off the end of the reed and pointed slightly down. The closer you can get your tongue to the contour of the top of your mouth without touching the better. Make sure your lower lip is firm and the face of your chin is flat.

Also support should be solid, breathing might benefit from some work. If you’re playing softer than a 3.0 that could be contributing, especially if it’s a synthetic reed.

An R13 should be able to create a very rich, round, woody tone across its entire range. If you don’t sound like a pro in a major city symphony, it’s not because of the instrument. Even on a softer reed a correct embouchure should sound very nice on that clarinet. The only possible exception might be if it is an old R13 that might be damaged or have a bad bore in some way, but even then I’d expect a better tone.

A good one hour lesson should cost much less than a barrel. Invest in one to double check whether I’m right. I can only bend notes like you do in the video if my embouchure is way off, so that’s my strong suspicion. If I’m right (or wrong), a decent teacher will be able to tell in maybe ten seconds of you playing.

Oh yeah, make sure your reed is high on the mouthpiece. And make sure your ligature is in the correct spot. With your lip halfway down the read and a nice firm embouchure, you can feel when the reed is in the right place. When you have it right the notes just jump out and sound surprisingly warm and round. If you’re fighting for every note it could be a bad reed or it could be too low or two high. Placing the reed takes practice.

Answer 5

Try smiling a little more while you are playing. The warmer your instrument gets the sharper it will be, blow warm air into it before you play. Blow more air into you instrument, even if you are playing quietly.