In the specialist shop environment I have frequently been
asked to comment on the tuning characteristics of instruments, both recent and
older vintage models. This is a summary of the knowledge I have gained,
published manufacturer information and advice I have received over many years -
much of it reinforced by my personal experience. Thomas
Instrumental Design – Emphasis on tuning characteristics and proper tuning
positions.
Modern musical instruments, manufactured by responsible
firms, have benefited from enormous investments in research and design
consultation with artists. The overall standard of wind instrument manufacture
has never been higher and the area of greatest improvement is to be found at
the student level. While superior materials and expert craftsmanship contribute
to making some older models highly desirable in the eyes of knowledgeable
players the advent of computer aided design and assembly has brought about vast
improvements in performance and pitch consistency for quality modern
instruments across the board.
Tuning
Most markets around the world aim for A = 440 (UK, USA,
Australia) or at most A = 442 (Europe). Austria is an exception where A = 444
or 445 is still a preference. Instrument manufacturers design their products to
these pitches under ideal conditions of approximately 72 degree Fahrenheit /
22 degrees Celsius, (i.e. room temperature). In practice there remains
quite a lot for the player to understand and to learn to utilise to help her or
himself to accomplish truly playing in tune.
Comfortable, room temperature conditions are rarely
found in performance situations but since these are what are utilised when
designing the instruments an instrument must be able to be played both above
and below the intended ‘ideal’ pitch in order to accommodate adverse
conditions.
Flute – the head cork must be in the correct position –
check this with cleaning rod line - it must show up in the middle of the
embouchure hole. The headjoint itself is usually pulled out from the fully
‘pushed-in’ position approximately 3-5mm (sometimes more) depending upon
blowing style, angle of air stream and embouchure. Too far out and the player
is must compensate for flat low notes, splitting tones and a dull high register
– too far in and the compensation is all downwards with the lip and blowing
angle. Overblown octaves, harmonics of 12ths and double octaves should all
nominally ‘line-up’ when tested. The player must then handle smaller
adjustments for pitch accuracy and tonal colour. The general tendency of the
flute is towards sharpness especially in the upper register and when playing
loudly. Pitch will sag when playing soft without great care and good air
support from the player.
NB – on all other instruments the tendency is for pitch to
sharpen when playing more softly.
Clarinet – Instrument manufacturers intend that a
clarinet, when pushed all the way in, should play sharp. Student instruments
are usually supplied with shorter barrels to allow for tuning to fixed pitch
instruments (i.e. a piano or keyboard) when played by inexperienced beginners.
Therefore, when played by better players and especially once warmed up, the
barrel should be ‘pulled’ usually 1.5- 2.5mm. This will bring most pitches into
line but some additional ‘distributive’ tuning may be necessary. This is
accomplished by pulling out at the middle joint and or bell in more extreme
cases. Sometimes a particular mouthpiece will have a tendency to play sharp or
flat and by changing this an otherwise ‘difficult’ instrument will come into
line. The Vandoren series 13 range was created with the desire to help players
‘bring down’ pitch to A = 440 where necessary. Professional players with
well-developed embouchures and settled playing concepts often use longer
barrels in order to create the most stable possible pitch platform throughout
the full range of the instrument. Key/pad venting height is a factor in the
evenness of both pitch and tone colour and must be sensitively examined for
optimal playing. The clarinet’s general tendency, unique among the woodwind
family as it over blows at the 12th rather than the octave, is
towards flatness, with the exception of the throat tones which are often sharp
and thin and the upper register that is often played with too much lip pressure
and can tend towards sharpness. Middle Bb and upper C3 are particular concerns
for many players. The addition of fingers of the right hand is often done to
help the tuning of and enrich the sound of throat register A and Bb.
Oboe – Most oboists count on their oboe to be as stable as
possible so that their tuning is done with the reed, often choosing the staple
length and the overall tied length of the reed blades specifically to match
their instrument. The oboe is highly flexible and playing fatigue and the
condition of the reed will continually affect pitch. In the correctly assembled
position the reed should be pushed completely into the receiver socket. This is
the optimal playing position. It is best practice to avoid pulling out the reed
to try to adjust pitch downwards as this creates other problems by introducing
a ‘bulge’ to the bore where the staple has been pulled back out of the socket.
The player handles small adjustments for pitch and tonal consistency with the
position of the reed on the lip and air support. The natural tendency of the
oboe is toward sharpness especially as tiredness sets in. Reeds tend to drop in
pitch as they tire or close up. The upper register, due to the difficulties of
production, is often quite sharp and care must be taken. Too heavy a reed will
lead to sharpness due to the effort of involved in producing a tone – too soft
and the sound will be thin and pitch will drift downwards.
Bassoon – The bassoon is such a long instrument that
corrections made by pulling the crook out from the receiver socket are
virtually pointless. The player usually has a choice of crook lengths provided
to them with their instrument and most will use a number 2 (crooks are
available from a nominal 0 to 3, the higher number being longer and therefore
providing a lower pitch level). Distributive pulling at the joints can help in
a severe tuning situation (being sharp but needing to play at a lower pitch)
but keywork linking across the joints is a limitation as is the undesirable
introduction of a gap in the bore. Like the oboe pitch adjustments are often
made at the reed and this can be successful for the shorter tube notes,
principally E and F, but notes with a longer sounding tube length will not
benefit nearly as much from reed adjustment alone. The tendency of the bassoon
is towards sharpness, especially in the low register. This is an acoustic
choice for if the instrument were absolutely to pitch in ideal conditions it
would be impossible to bring up the pitch of the long tube low notes when cold.
Players become used to keeping pitch down by playing with a relaxed embouchure,
internal tongue position in the oral cavity and solid air support.
Saxophone – The saxophone has very flexible mouthpiece
positioning on the crook and the resulting pitch is highly dependent upon good
embouchure and air control from the player. There are known acoustical
compromises in the tuning of the sax but as the tendency is towards sharpness
the player must be very careful not to start with the mouthpiece position too
far on the crook cork as all notes will then be sharp, especially the high
register. One should not pull off too far either (a decision often prompted by
an attempt to compensate for a poor embouchure understanding and improper air
support), as this will distort the shortest notes disproportionately and throw
off the balance of the response throughout especially the low register. Players
must work to learn to support well and relax the embouchure as much as possible
and when this is well understood the instrument settles into a manageable and
predictable pattern. Tuning is highly influenced by mouthpiece selection and
high baffle jazz mouthpieces in particular often require great skill from a
player to be able play well in tune, as they will tend to tune more sharply.
Valved Brass – If an higher range brass instrument
(trumpet or cornet) has been properly manufactured it will play it’s intended
‘ideal’ tuning pattern with little mechanical adjustment beyond a pull of the
main tuning slide and secondary pulls for specific notes at the 1st
and 3rd slides. The player must work within the acoustical
limitations of the instrument to compensate with the lips for small
idiosyncrasies. The larger the instrument the greater some of the known
acoustical distortions and for euphonium and tuba especially additional valves,
compensating mechanisms and tubing lengths are often added or manipulated to
assist in obtaining better tuning in all registers, especially the low
register. The french horn, being a very long tubing instrument, is played
almost exclusively in the mid to upper range of the available tones and as a
result produces quite a stable pitch platform. Never the less it does have some
very distinctive tuning requirements. It is fair to say that well made
instruments are intended to be able to play in tune with a consistent, minimal
distributive pull of the valve tuning slides as long as the player plays with a
good embouchure and airstream.
Trombone – Aside from a standard pull of between 1–2cm at
the main tuning slide all the rest of the tuning for a well-made trombone is
accomplished between the slide positions, the player’s embouchure and solid
airstream. Instruments have their own individual acoustical ‘quirks; but of all
the brass and woodwind instruments the trombone has the greatest ability to be
played ‘in tune’ with few mechanical limitations. The trombone relies more than
anything on a player’s hearing and relative tuning recognition for correct
pitch placement as well as the ability to consistently supply the instrument
with the correct air and embouchure balance.
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The
tips and comments above are the result of many years of providing help and advice, my
personal interest and study, and the teaching that I have done during
my career. I have many colleagues and teachers to thank for
sharing their thoughts and suggestions on this and other topics. In addition I am
indebted to
Woodwind & Reed,
Cambridge ( www.wwr.co.uk ) where, in the
course of helping customers, many of these concepts have been refined and have proven helpful.
Thomas Dryer-Beers
