Klarinet Archive - Posting 000260.txt from 1996/09

From: "Fogle, Bill" <bill.fogle@-----.COM>
Subj: clarinets
Date: Sat, 14 Sep 1996 23:36:56 -0400

It's interesting that the subject of "tone" (and inherently
"quality") has come up again on Klarinet. Two weeks
ago, a thread about Festival vs. Concerto clarinets came up.

I've been exposed to alot of information and opinion since
starting to read this list. Thus far, my "conclusions" have been
challenged and done in-----one by one. My copy of the Buffet
catalogue (admittedly from 1994) doesn't even list a "Festival"
clarinet. If anyone (privately, or to the list) cares to tell me what
these horns are, I'd be grateful.

My own experience shows me that I can change my clarinet's
sound and response up to a point by the mouthpiece/reed
combination I use. I own several clarinets that I feel differ in
sound and response, and I find myself changing setups to
get a "middle" ground I find most aceptable (though never
near that weird, thin yet gorgeous, liquid but solid sound
of Kell). A week or more ago, I posted a request for info
about Noblet and older Leblanc clarinets because those are
the two instruments I play that present a kind of "limit" to
how I can design my sound. To my mind, they represent a
way of designing bores that was fashionable before sounding
especially "dark" became important on a big scale.

I think there must be quite a lot of manufacturer hype for
Buffet to offer so many "top of the line" clarinets. Lately, I
read an interesting post that asserted the RC Prestige is the
European horn with the best wood and the superior bore. I
have seen a few notes claiming France keeps the best cane,
the best Blackwood, etc., that special European distribution
clarinets were the best Buffet product ("F Series", "RC", etc.)
The only consistency I've read on the subject is the (almost)
universal dislike of the "Elite" Buffet. When I obtained my copy
of Tom Ridenour's fingering book (indispensable for any player,
IMO) I was shocked to read his pronouncement that Leblanc has
at last created a clarinet surpassing everthing else in intonation.
What I have learned is that nothing is decided. ---Bill F.