Klarinet Archive - Posting 000264.txt from 1995/05

From: Stephen Cranefield <stephen@-----.NZ>
Subj: one piece clarinets
Date: Mon, 8 May 1995 08:19:15 -0400

Helen Emerson wrote:

> On 6/5 Fred Cicetti wrote
>
>> I think it's time that someone came out with a true one-piece
>> clarinet made of a maintenance-free synthetic. By this I mean an
>> instrument composed of mouthpiece, reed, ligature, barrel, two joints and
>> a bell all in one piece. Of course, this would be a disposable.

> This reminds me of something I saw on the English TV show "Barrymore" (a=
> sort of variety/comedy/family show, where each week the host invites a=
> number of guests along to perform etc.....) Quite a while ago, Barrymore=
> had a 5 year old boy on playing a 'clarinet' - well, it was an adapted=
> clarinet. It looked smaller, and looked like it was in one (maybe 2?)=
> pieces - from memory, the mouthpiece, barrel and first joint were in one=
> piece....The instrument was narrower, the keys were all plastic (I think) -=
> obviously the weight and tone hole span were reduced for a child of this=
> age to manage playing it!

Hi Helen,

I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I saw that show too. The clarinet
looked like a "Lyons clarinet" (which I have seen pictures of before).
This is an all-plastic clarinet which was designed in Britain a while
back specifically for beginners. It was considered revolutionary
because:

1) Unlike other beginner clarinets it is in C, thus making it smaller
and lighter, as well as being good for playing along with other
instruments.

2) Unlike other plastic clarinets, the bore is moulded in two parts
which are then fused together somehow. This means that the
acoustics are not sacrificed in in order to make a instrument that
will slide off a mould (a difficult thing for a cylindrical bored
instrument!)

3) The keywork is all plastic and (I presume) less easily damaged or
put out of alignment than the keywork on standard clarinets.

I would be interested to hear how well these instruments have caught
on. I asked about them at Howarths when passing through London once
and the guy there was very scathing. He said that because of the cost
(at the time he said they were no cheaper than other beginner level
instruments) there was no point -- if you wanted a C clarinet you
might as well buy a "real one".

- Stephen

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Stephen Cranefield Phone: +64 3 479 8083
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