Tone Holes

Tone holes may have to be adjusted to correct for pitch, quality of sound or responsiveness.

This is done by undercutting the tone hole to make the opening larger or placing a properly sized piece of electrical tape on the upper inside edge of the tone hole in order to make the opening smaller.

Tenon Corks

As with the cork on the tenon of the mouthpiece, the corks on both tenons of the
upper joint and the bottom tenon of the lower joint are important for several reasons.

Cork of the finest quality has the fewest worm holes. The corks must be thick enough so that the clarinet seals properly at the joints and will not wobble when the joints are pulled apart slightly for intonation adjustment. Tenon corks should be replaced when the joints become loose caused by the compression of the corks through use. These corks must be kept greased so that the clarinet can be put together and adjusted relatively easily. The corks should be greased with petroleum jelly, not cork grease, which tends to make the corks gummy. In different weather and seasons these corks, as well as the rings on the tenons and bell, naturally swell or diminish.

To minimize these undesirable changes in your clarinet case, keep some fresh orange peels, a stringed instrument humidifier or any other device that provides moisture. These moisturizers are especially needed in the winter. Keeping moisture in the case will also
keep the clarinet from becoming too dry helping to prevent cracking.

For silence of key action, all corks that are added to the keywork must be cut with the grain running lengthwise for quietest and softest contact.

Back to Key Action or forward to Selection and Breaking In

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