Last night, I was showing my B full set to a friend, who in a previous life before getting into trad was an accomplished classical clarinet player. She suggested that it might be a good idea to add some cork backing to the regulator keys to keep them from slamming into each other, and to even out the travel distance between the regulators.
Seems like a smart innovation, you’d back the keys with cork so they open to where they need to be, and not have metal-against-metal strikes on the underlying keys. You could also “regulate the regulators” to some extent, sorry about the pun…
I’m curious, has anyone seen a set with corking on the backs of the keys. Its pretty common on orchestral woodwinds (D# key on silver flute, for example).
Cork is good for stopping one key opening another when pressed down too far also if there is a bit of sideways give with the key it will prevent this.Nothing new here.
Slan go foill
Liam
Brad Angus usually corks the G key of the bass regulator. On my D set the G key on the small regulator has a notch filed into its padpiece which the F# key’s shank fits into.
Michael-
Hey there, I was wondering how you like that B set of yours. I’m thinking of getting on somebody’s waiting list for a set. Patrick is really keen on Joe Kennedy, which is tempting…Have any other opinions on makers? How is Childress?
I’ve been completely happy with my Childress B set… After I bought it I had Bruce build me new reeds for the regs and chanter since the previous owner had been playing it in New Mexico, where it is considerably drier than here in San Diego. Its airtight, in tune, looks good and plays like a dream. Can’t say enough good things about Bruce’s work.
If you’re looking to Joe Kennedy, you’ll have to wait for him to finish my B set first!
You won’t go wrong with one of Joe’s sets, concert or flat. I believe Harry grabbed one of Joe’s B sets, too. Joe let me borrow a B chanter, just so I could drool about what a whole set will be like while I wait.
Corking the back of keys in orchestral woodwinds (and saxophones for that matter) also helps control the tone, and to a smaller extent, the tuning of the notes. Just as a finger held close over a tone hole will alter the tonal characterstic, and volume, of a chanter note, a regulator can be “balanced” note-for-note by controlling how much each key opens. This is an easy way to make sure that no notes “jump out” more than the others. The keys on a chanter can be adjusted in this manner, as an alternative to bending of the key.
I agree with what Dave Bolling just posted. I just finished adding key corks to all the regulator keys on my Gallagher D set, reducing the excess key travel and noise, and producing a much more even feel and tone. I’ve been repairing modern woodwinds for many years, and this simple modification just seemed logical. Dave Collins.
There is a glue just made for the job…it’s called KWIKSET Pad and Cork CEMENT I haven’t used it for years, but it’s still soft and stays that way in the tube for a long time. Dries hard. Get it at most good musical instrument stores (I hope that’s still true).
