Klarinet Archive - Posting 000170.txt from 1996/03

From: "Edwin V. Lacy" <el2@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: Equipment Question (Oh no !!!!)
Date: Wed, 6 Mar 1996 14:49:35 -0500

On Wed, 6 Mar 1996, Mark Charette wrote:

> I'm thinking about obtaining an A clarinet for my son (since he'll
> need it relatively soon). He presently has a Bb Selmer Paris 10G.
> Should I:
> 1) Stick with the Selmer 10G line (my son likes the feel of the
> clarinet, the keywork, & the sound)
> 2) Go with a Buffet R13 (which seems to be the most popular make &
> model out there, and I'm sure for good reason).
> 3) Look at other makes & lines.
>
> I don't mind spending the money all that much for the instrument
> as long as it is of professional quality (the "student" lines like
> his plastic Vito are great for marching band, though). However, I
> don't want to have to spend another $2000.00 or so in 3 years when he
p> goes into college (assuming he majors in music/clarinet). Even if
> he decides to stop playing the clarinet (over my dead body ;^), the
> resale value of good clarinets is better than the student lines.

You have obviously already thought this out pretty carefully, and in your
questions you outline some of the major issues.

Rather than tell you what clarinet to buy, I would like to present a
different aspect of this question. First of all, if your son is getting
as serious about the study of music and the clarinet as he seems to be,
it is clear that he does need to get an A clarinet as soon as possible.
There is a certain advantage to trying to match the A and Bb as much as
practical, but that may not be the end of the story.

There can be another, overriding consideration. Many if not most
university professors of clarinet would prefer that the student wait
until he has chosen the college, university or conservatory he will
attend before making any major expenditures for equipment. Every teacher
tends to have their preferences, and it can be a real disadvantage for a
student to have purchased Buffet instruments, or Yamaha, just to give two
examples, if he then goes to a school where the teacher prefers Selmer, or
LeBlanc, or whatever.

I know that we all feel we would like to be able to be democratic about
this, and we like to say that what is important is the final result,
etc., etc. Still, if the teacher is listening to a student week after
week, no matter how musical or technically advanced the student may be,
if the sound is what the teacher associates with, say, Selmer, and his
sound ideal is really based on the Buffet sound, there is going to be a
certain tendency for the teacher ultimately to recommend that the student
change to another brand.

Of course, teachers for the most part don't want to just turn out carbon
copies of themselves, but on the other hand, teachers can't very
successfully teach styles and concepts which are diametrically opposed to
their own approach.

Probably about the best you could do at this point is to try to make an
informed guess about what would be a good choice. I think you should try
to find out what is the most widely-used instrument, and go with that one
for now. That would improve the probability that you would have chosen
the instrument that your son's eventual teacher would be using.

You could also go with a good-quality but used instrument for the
present, with the thought that he might want to change again when he goes
to college. In that case, you should try to find an instrument which, as
you suggest, is of sufficient quality to maintain as much as possible of
its value for the next several years. That could serve to help reduce
the impact of the cost of a new instrument at a time when you also will
have such things as tuition to contend with.

Naturally, I think I know what instruments are compatible with the most
widely-held concepts of clarinet sound among professional players and
teachers, but would rather not state that here. This is a very emotional
issue for many musicians. I'm sure it won't be hard for you to find this
out - most people will freely give you their opinions on this, even
before you ask, and sometimes long after you wish they would keep it to
themselves!

Good luck!

Ed Lacy
*****************************************************************
Dr. Edwin Lacy University of Evansville
Professor of Music 1800 Lincoln Avenue
Evansville, IN 47722
el2@-----.edu (812)479-2754
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