After some considerable time effort and number of mistakes I'm able to
correct facing issues to my satisfaction.....but as yet I don't know how to
correct tuning issues.

To the point... I have several mouthpieces stock or refaced that play well
and well in tune to about clarion A, then get progressively sharper to C or
D then usually still sharp above that...but it gets a bit wild up there.  If
I slap on a barel with an undersized bore...voila...tuning is very much
improved...but sound it "throttled" somewhat.... so I tried reducing mpc
volume with putty and got only slight improvement in tuning.

In a nutshell, my question is.  given that the mouthpiece is the correct
length, correct exit bore and "normal" med long med close facing what can be
done at the mouthpiece level to bring the altissimo down by about 20 cents.

(PS  All on stock 5 digit serial number R13, medium low register vent
opening, stock barrel...and this instrument plays well in tune with my  M13
lyre orjust about as well with my Kaspar Cicero 13  and moenig barrel)

The tuning issue you described can be caused by the clarinet itself.  The problem with some buffets is that the upper bore of the upper joint (which is reamed from the top) is too large, and they tune quite sharp in the left hand clarion.

I suggest that you try your mouthpieces on a different Buffet.

Good luck.  I had to give up an otherwise wonderful Buffet A because of the overbore problem.  The best I could do was to use a Vandoren 13-series mouthpiece (refaced), a severely reverse tapered barrel (from Orsi and Weir) and try to live with the wide 12ths that resulted.

Bob Phillips

That narrow bore and the stuffiness that results is why I play Leblanc 
clarinets.  You might try contacting Robert DiLutis.  (Clarinet prof @ 
LSU) He has a line of mouthpieces that he hand faces which seem to work 
wonderfully with R13s.  I met him @ a regional workshop last year and 
was quite impressed.  Always easier to change setup than shell out for a 
new instrument!

On 1/11/2011 10:49 AM, phlopz wrote:
>
> The tuning issue you described can be caused by the clarinet itself. 
> The problem with some buffets is that the upper bore of the upper 
> joint (which is reamed from the top) is too large, and they tune quite 
> sharp in the left hand clarion.
>
> I suggest that you try your mouthpieces on a different Buffet.
>
> Good luck. I had to give up an otherwise wonderful Buffet A because of 
> the overbore problem. The best I could do was to use a Vandoren 
> 13-series mouthpiece (refaced), a severely reverse tapered barrel 
> (from Orsi and Weir) and try to live with the wide 12ths that resulted.
>
> Bob Phillips
>
> 

Thanks for your reply! 

I guess you wouldn't be surprised that I play my R13 with a Kaspar or M13...and a Moenig or Orsi & Weir barrel.

But...the horn (one of 3 R13s I have in the stable) plays well in tune with several other mouthpieces... I'd like to understand better why that is...and maybe how to change the mouthpieces so they all play in tune.


--- In MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com, "Robert W. Smith" <rwpsmith@...> wrote:
>
> That narrow bore and the stuffiness that results is why I play Leblanc 
> clarinets.  You might try contacting Robert DiLutis.  (Clarinet prof @ 
> LSU) He has a line of mouthpieces that he hand faces which seem to work 
> wonderfully with R13s.  I met him @ a regional workshop last year and 
> was quite impressed.  Always easier to change setup than shell out for a 
> new instrument!
> 
> On 1/11/2011 10:49 AM, phlopz wrote:
> >
> > The tuning issue you described can be caused by the clarinet itself. 
> > The problem with some buffets is that the upper bore of the upper 
> > joint (which is reamed from the top) is too large, and they tune quite 
> > sharp in the left hand clarion.
> >
> > I suggest that you try your mouthpieces on a different Buffet.
> >
> > Good luck. I had to give up an otherwise wonderful Buffet A because of 
> > the overbore problem. The best I could do was to use a Vandoren 
> > 13-series mouthpiece (refaced), a severely reverse tapered barrel 
> > (from Orsi and Weir) and try to live with the wide 12ths that resulted.
> >
> > Bob Phillips
> >
> >
>