Klarinet Archive - Posting 000892.txt from 1995/10

From: Jacqueline G Eastwood <eastwooj@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: Basset Horns
Date: Tue, 24 Oct 1995 21:35:53 -0400

OUCH, DAN!!! My love of the temperamental basset horn has been sullied and
made tawdry by my innocent yet dimly informed remarks!! Never again!!

Part of the reason for my shameless Leblanc preference is the fact that A)
they are more readily available, and B) they cost a heck of a lot less.
I had also heard from other people that the Buffets were not so great,
considering the price differential. The pair at Northwestern were
Leblancs, and considering their age and treatment, they were just fine!!

Jacqueline Eastwood
University of Arizona/Arizona Opera Orchestra
eastwooj@-----.edu

On Tue, 24 Oct 1995, Bryant, Mike J wrote:

> >From Mike Bryant
>
> To Klarinet
>
> Subject Basset Horns
>
> 24 October 1995
>
>
>
> I hope to be brief and non-controversial.
>
>
>
> Basset horns don't work very well because so few are made that the
> research and development needed would not be repaid. They are frequently
> out of tune with themselves because of an acoustic mismatch of the crook
> to the rest of the instrument. Not many players have more than one crook,
> the one delivered with instrument. The Selmer has for a long time been
> regarded as the best but is also the most expensive by a large margin.
> Even so I know of several cases (Selmer) were the positions of holes have
> been completely replanned and keywork altered to suit particular players'
> hand sizes. The Buffet basset was not much liked but they have now (1995)
> produced a new design which is reported to be excellent. Contemporary
> with the Selmer of the 1970/80s, the East German company Uebel made a
> very good basset horn at a more modest price than the Selmer. It had a
> downward facing wooden bell. I think that this company may have either
> stopped making bassets or ceased business altogether in the post-1989
> economic climate. Its register keys change-over mechanism is
> complicated and requires constant attention to keep the spring strengths
> correctly balanced. The Leblanc has a wide borer than the Selmer and
> Uebel and uses not the ordinary Bb clarinet reed which renders Selmers
> and Uebels rather underpowered, but an alto reed. The Leblanc has
> therefore been long favoured by some clarinettists in the opera house
> (e.g. English National Opera), as it is easy to make yourself heard in
> the operas of Richard Strauss...
>
>
>
> Everyone should have John Newhill's book on the basset horn and its
> repertoire, which is scholarly and produced in such a way to keep the
> price as low as possible. He produced a second edition to take account of
> newly discovered and new repertoire. It is available from June Emerson
> Wind Music, Windmill Farm, Ampleforth, Yorkshire, England or from the
> author (who plays a Leblanc) John Newhill, 25 Amberley Road, Sale,
> Cheshire M33 1QP England.
>
>
>
> Mike Bryant
>
> bry1pds@-----.bbc
>

   
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