Klarinet Archive - Posting 000207.txt from 1994/09

From: Walter_Quan@-----.CA
Subj: plastic clarinets
Date: Fri, 23 Sep 1994 14:54:02 -0400

My first foray (Faure?) into the list...

Once upon a time (nine years ago), I arrived at my weekly (weakly?) lesson
with Wes Foster, Principal-Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. He basically
'tossed' me a plastic clarinet and told me to try it... I sputtered at him
and sort of muttered, "what are YOU doing with a plastic clarinet, give me
a break..." and he insisted I try it out...

And it really wasn't a bad instrument - it sounded nice and the mechanisms
were fine. The tone was even, and there was little in the way of having to
do all those 'internal' kinds of adjustments (i.e. extra fingers/keys down
to tune notes). We agreed that it would be a good instrument for students,
since you wouldn't have to worry about the instrument that had been sitting
in uncle's attic and had been passed on to nephew/niece as a favour... I
think Wes also considered using it in some of the outdoor concerts the VSO
was doing that year, but I don't know if he actually ever did...

And since I haven't seen any prohibitions on mentioning brand names, I can
tell you that it was a Yamaha - I think the better of the two student
models. (Mind you, the model numbers in Canada are different from the ones
in the States...)

Am enjoying this list very much - does anyone know if there's a flute list
- I have a friend who's jealous!

Walter K. Quan
Coordinator Arts Awards Programs
Cultural Services Branch
Ministry of Small Business, Tourism and Culture
Province of British Columbia

Walter_Quan@-----.ca

   
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