Klarinet Archive - Posting 000621.txt from 1996/11

From: "Edmund W. White" <ewhite@-----.US>
Subj: Intro.........
Date: Thu, 28 Nov 1996 22:25:08 -0500

Hello. My name is Edmund White, and I'm logging-on to introduce
myself, as recommended in the list FAQ. I'm currently a junior at Evanston
Township H.S. in Evanston, IL. I just recently performed with the
all-district concert band as the second-chair bass clarinetist, but plan to
make first-chair in the all-state group in January. My question to all
of you is: what type of bass clarinet would you recommend for someone in
my position? I plan to play in college, and I'm pretty active now with
clarinet choir, orchestra (our bassoonist sucks!), and jazz and concert
band. The school bought a plastic Selmer horn for me last year, but I
recently purchased a '71 Selmer Paris bass from my clarinet teacher. It's a
low Eb horn, but is in excellent mechanical condition and sounds great.
After perusing the klarinet archives, the general trend regarding bass
clarinets seemed to lean towards low C instruments manufactured by Leblanc,
Selmer, or Buffet. Basically, I want to know if it's worth dropping
$3000+ for the low C extension. Is it really necessary? The
fourth-chair bass clarinetist in the all-district band came through with
a new Buffet Prestige low C, but claimed she never used it in a
performance. What's the deal?

Edmund White
ewhite@-----.us