Why the Overhung Ferrule on some Drum Corps fifes?
This feature on the Suffield Model is not a mistake. We call it the Modal Boundary for this reason: lowest D “sees” the step in the bore as a short tube, thereby raising the pitch for better registration of all the Ds; upper notes, with different modes of vibration, respond to this step in other ways. C-natural2, E3, and F#3 are greatly improved regarding stability, clarity, strength and pitch. For F#3, this fingering ● o ● ● ● ●gives the best pitch. The note B3 (as ● o o o o o), while a little hard to reach, is finally in tune: in contrast, simple fifes with traditional fingering sound a B3 that is 70 cents sharp (closer to a C).
