Klarinet Archive - Posting 000181.txt from 1994/03

From: Jim Lytthans <jlytthans@-----.COM>
Subj: Best Clarinets?
Date: Sun, 13 Mar 1994 15:40:30 -0500

I'm very glad to see that the topic of clarinet choice has come up. Let me
add a few of my observations:

As a young clarinet student, I began on a Bundy, then switched to full -Boehm
Selmer "Centered-Tone" (which it wasn't!). My folks paid full-boat for that
horn (about $400 new) in 1954. What a dog, but I do miss the articulated G#
key, especially when playing the opera "Carmen".
I began studying with Kalman Bloch in 1957, I think, and he (of course!)
switched me to a set of R-13 Buffets. I paid exactly $500 new for the pair,
with double case! Times have changed, haven't they? We still, however,
haven't caught up to what a flutist has to pay for a Powell, Haynes or top
Miramatsu, but we're closer.
These R-13s got me through college, and lots of gigs. I replaced the Bb
about 12 years ago with one of the last of Chicago Buffets. This instrument
is now my back-up horn. While at the ICS conference in Flagstaff (1991), I
purchased my current set of R-13s, directly from B & H. These are fine
clarinets (I had the opportunity to try some 25 Bbs and 15 As over the five
days of the conference. The Bb is now up at Clark Fobes in the Bay Area for
an overhaul, after having about three years of very hard use.
Now to the subject at hand: Being a music educator, I attend many
music conferences, and (naturally) try many brands of clarinets. Recently,
my wife (she also is a clarinetist) and I were attending the CMEA conference
in Santa Clara, where I blew all the new horns. All the major makers have
good instruments now. I especially enjoyed playing the Yamaha 72CSs, with
there dark tonal quality and good intonation; the new Selmer 10GII, with its
balanced resistance (it felt like a well-adjusted R-13).
However, the Leblanc Opus made the greatest impression on me.
I played the Opus in Flagstaff several times, accompanied by long discussions
with its designer Tom Ridenauer, but was not terribly impressed. Several
changes in the design have been made by Leblanc in the past two years, and
the current Opus is spectacular!
CMEA put together a reading band one night, and I borrowed one Opus from the
Leblanc rep (I had my mouthpiece...a Combs LC3... but no instruments). My
wife borrowed a Buffet Festival (really a cheaper Prestige) for comparison.
The reading session lasted over 3 hours, giving me a good length of
time to play the Opus. Several of the numbers read had extended clarinet
solos. After the session, many of the players commented on my sound
("silky", "creamy", "dark and beautiful", etc.). I took to the clarinet like
the perverbial "duck to water". The feel of the key work, the balanced
resistance and intonation, and the tonal beauty was what I have been trying
to fine for years. The upper clarion/altissimo break is especially
impressive, with no change in color or resistance, as is the case with most
Buffets. Even the throat tones were clear, needing very little help.
My wife and I liked this particular Opus so much that she (read "we")
bought it! By the way, the Buffet Festival was not a very good horn....
quite stuffy and out of tune. Lynette really is sounding better on her new
Leblac that I've ever heard her play. She even let me "borrow" it for an
orchestral rehearsal last week.
We are planning on attending the ICA conference in Chicago this summer,
where I will try to find a pair of Opuses (Opi?) for my own use. By the way,
the only clarinets I've liked better in recent years are Luis Rossi's
handmade English bore models ($5,000 a pair). A real bargain, actually,
although the English sound might raise some eyebrows here in the Colonies.
As a long-time Buffet user, I urge all contemplating a new clarinet to
try the Opus. These horns seem to solve many of the R-13s worst faults, and
in a wonderful manner (no, Leblanc is NOT paying me to send this!).