Klarinet Archive - Posting 000013.txt from 1995/02

From: Timothy Tikker <tjt@-----.ORG>
Subj: Re: G clarinet
Date: Wed, 1 Feb 1995 13:29:45 -0500

On Tue, 31 Jan 1995, CLARK FOBES wrote:

> inscription "Nuri (S?)un". It is no great shakes from a construction
> standpoint, but it is priceless to the owner due to the fact that thse
> instruments are not very available in this country.

Right. I've talked to a number of people about it, and wooden G
clarinets seem really hard to come by. Some get the metal Gs just as s
stopgap measure until they can get the real thing.

> I just saw my good friend , Al Rice, today who maintains that a
> collector in the Los Angeles area owns a G clarinet made by non other
> than the firm of Wurlitzer!!! That I would like to see!

That the American Wurlitzer? A local store has a B-flat Albert by them.
The mouthpiece was impossible, and more modern mouthpieces wouldn't fit
it, so I gave up on it.

Or one of the German Wurlitzers? I have an A Oehler by Clemens W.
Don't know if they made Alberts too.

> As far as the tuning of this instrument, I believe that it is based on a
> Western European scale, but the wild tunings that are used in Greek
> music is a result of a lot of lipping.

Sounds right. In my middle-eastern playing, some quarter-tones are
fingered, some lipped, some both.

> I will try to get George to log on the next time he is in the shop and
> say a few words about the use of the G clarinet. If anyone has an
> opportunity to hear him play, do it!!!

For anyone who wants to hear fine Turkish G clarinet playing (but a
wooden horn judging from the photo - I wonder who made it? Czech?), get
the CD "Tzigane: The Gypsy Music of Turkey - the Erkose Ensemble", CMP
Records CMP 3010. It is DYNAMITE!!... and readily available in many stores.