Klarinet Archive - Posting 000784.txt from 1995/03

From: Dannene Joy Kulp <drummon4@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: Instrument Identification Request
Date: Fri, 31 Mar 1995 13:48:49 -0500

I'm no expert, but maybe you are playing on a C or D clarinet. It can't be an
A clarinet, because an A clarinet is longer than a Bb clarinet, not shorter.
It sounds like it may be a C because they aren't the best sounding or most in
tune instruments around. That is why everyone transposes those parts to the
Bb clarinet.
> > I would like to enlist the aid of the list-members in trying to identify
a > clarinet of mine. It is wooden, has the markings "A. Fontaine" and
> "couesnon Paris" on the bell, and has serial #8716 stamped on the main
> center joint. What has me curious about this instrument is that it is
> shorter by about 3 inches, has a noticably wider bore, and is amazingly
> easier to blow (but harder to blow in tune) than my other (plastic Bundy)
> Bb soprano clarinet. It has no "extra" or unusual keys and I'm using a
> Selmer HS*2 mouthpiece (the original was lost somehow).
>
> One thing that bothers me about this clarinet is that it blows so flat
> compared to my other horn. I have never seen an A clarinet and wonder if
> I've been trying to play one and don't know it!! That certainly would
> explain why I can't seem to keep it high enough. :-) On the plus side, it
> does have a wonderful low register which I never tire of playing in (alone,
> that is, since I'm afraid to use this instrument in groups). I find myself
> playing standards an octave lower just to enjoy the sound.
>
> I would appreciate help from anybody for whom this rings a bell.
>
> -Pat Flannery
>