Runyon's "BIS" Key

[Charlie A.]

Santy has done it again for those of you ot familar with the "CLARINET BIS KEY"!
This new key allows the musician to play an optional fingering for the Bb. This ne fingering is comparable to the bis fingering for the saxophone. With this key the clarinetest can go from Bb to A,G,etc. more quickly. The fingering action required for the bis key is simple when compared to the traditional fingering.
It also provides an optional fingering for the high F#. It plays the note clearly but it plays it in tune as well.
Santy has made the bis innovation rather simple to assemble. The Bis key is silver plated and is attached by one set screw to the clarinet. You don't have to take it to the shop to get it installed.
Look for it on charlie A's site;
www.gigdust.com

[Anonymous]

if one has fairly long fingers, one can finger the clarinet 'bis' by just extending the tip of one's left index finger a bit to cover the next lower pad cup, producing a bis Bb...no need for gizmos.

[Charlie A.]

Hi!
I was notified about your post relative to the "Bis key" and the extension of the finger to make it an unecessary item on the clarinet for performance. This is great if you are so gifted. However in some extremely fast passages as in dixieland, jazz, or classical it is highly unlikely most would be able to do this. If you are so gifted you are blessed and a great player. Many players don't have those long fingers to suffice. I am one of those. Santy developed this key for those of us that are not as accomplished as many fine players are and many very excellent technicians are using the bis to enhance their performance even though they are also gifted.
If you or any other players out there would email me I will show you a couple of passages as examples of where the bis key is most desireable. I am trying to get these) on my site showing the desireability of having the key.
Thanks for your input.
Charlie A.
www.charliea@watervalley.net

[MM]

Charlie, I must admit I'm still mystified as to how this can work. On the sax the little bis key lets you close two pads at once. On the clarinet, the upper hole has no pad, but instead must be covered by the fingertip. How can you offset it as on the sax and still cover the upper hole?

[Charlie A.]

Thanks for your inquiry about the "Bis" key.
A picture is worth a 1000 words so for the explanation go to my web site and click on "bis key". When it opens you can wait just a minute and three pictures will open up showing the bis key applied to the clarinet. Click on the pictures for enlargement and you can readily see how it works as it is applied to the cup arm between the open b and the open a tone holes.
You can see how easy the finger action can make it work. I have a few passages that I am trying to get on the site showing how the bis key makes them possible to play when otherwise they are practically impossible.
I will try to get my host to put these on as soon as I can get her to do so. She has had the pictures of the passages for some time now and just hasn't gotten them on there.
Regards,
Charlie

[rfenno]

I have one of these on my clarinet. They are for us klutzes who are saxophone/flute players without the kind of training on clarinet to get us through tight situations, but whose abilitles as musicians are always getting us into those very situations.

I know that clarinet players may be horrified at the idea of a bis. But hey, it works for me. If it gets in the way, I take it off. Just one set screw does it.

The F# alone is worth having the bis. It's clear and in tune.

Santy was a big bis key fan himself on saxophone, and I'm pretty sure that's what got the wheels turning about one for clarinet. He is dearly missed.

[Big Nick]

Clarinettists are horrified by anything that makes playing the blooming things easier. They take a pride in it being hard.
I think the bis key is a great idea but it doesn't go anywhere near far enough. What's really needed is a complete redesign. Over the last 30 odd years I've got increasingly pissed off with the crap design of the things. I'm convinced it could be done a whole lot better, but, sadly, I don't think I've got the brains or the patience to do it.
WHAT WE NEED IS A JIM SCHMIDT OF THE CLARINET!!!

[retread]

Adolphe Sax should have reinvented the clarinet while he was on a roll.

[Charlie A.]

Big Nick I am totally in agreement with you that there should/could be some redesign for we sax players that try(?) to play clarinet--I don't anymore. When the days of the big society bands were over I buried mine--never could play the darn thing right and taught them for 23 yeaars and had some good players along the way but I was not one of them. anyway mine always sound like a sax and that break, no way for me to overcome it.
However the "Bis-Key" is a great innovation for those gifted in playing the instrument and maybe those not so gifted but decent players to play better. Tha is why I decided to place them on my site. Have sold qu :shock: ite a few of them and so far have had no negative comments about them but have had some positive statements made. It apparantly has helped those that have tried it.
Regards,
Charlie A.

[Lomar Manx]

Charlie:
Clarinet doubling seems to be a lost art. I also gave mine up years ago. Just a word of thanks for your great products. They make a sax players life a lot easier.

[Ebonite]

Hello,
Does anyone know where to get the Runyon Bis Key for Clarinet?
I've looked on the web but did not find any in stock.
Thanks,
Ebonite

[tenor71363]

Has this product caught on with serious clarinetists?

[SaxPlayer1004]

You can order it straight from the Runyon website as with all Runyon products
http://runyonproducts.com/clar.bis.html

[tenor71363]

i recently purchased one from Weiner. I was just wondering what real clarinetists think. I just double.

[tenor71363]

I am having intonation issues when I use this adaptor. My low Eb is very flat and my high Bb is VERY sharp. Anyone else have similar experiences? I play an E11. I know it's not the greatest clarinet in the world, but it is decent. I feel like I wasted $20. Thanks.

[Henry D]

Odd.

How's the forked Eb (using the RH index or middle finger rings)? Same mechanical effect as using the Bis but that the B cup and whichever ring tone hole you used are closed on the lower joint. The additional closed holes would normally be expected to make it even flatter than just the Bis key add on.