Klarinet Archive - Posting 000596.txt from 1997/01

From: "David C. Blumberg" <reedman@-----.COM>
Subj: Re: Wood /Plastic Clarinets-WHY?
Date: Mon, 27 Jan 1997 12:00:54 -0500

The "perfect clarinet" that I spoke of would have all of those qualites
that you spoke of in plastics, But with a good sound, unlike plastics. I am
aware that the laws of acoustics don't agree with that, but there are no
good sounding plastic-wood duplications to dispute me either.

At 03:16 PM 1/27/97 +0100, Luuk van Buul wrote:
>On Jan 27 David C. Blumberg wrote:
>
>>
>> Not wanting to throw gas on a fire that doesn't exist yet, but:
>> Why don't the big manufacturers copy the exact bore, tonehole placement,
>> etc. ,etc. on the plastic clarinets, to make the perfect clarinet -IF, and
>> only IF the tone is the same between wood, and plastic. And don't tell me
>> the equivalent of "a common cold virus cure exists, but the cold symptom
>> industry suppresses it".
>>
>>
>
>Well, I don't know. But if I did, what does it prove? I have not seen any
>objective argument yet why one should not give the plastics a serious try.
Let
>another player play them and listen. Play one yourself and maybe you will be
>surprised. Especially when compared with wooden 'student models' (twice or
>thrice the price of a plastic one).
>
>One thing I do know is that plastic instruments have a better
reproduceability
>with less variation than wooden ones because of the more homogenous material
>(this goes for the Buffet 'Green Line' clarinets as well). The advantage
for the
>customer is he doesn't have to try a lot of 'the same' products in order
to find
>a 'good' one. They're all the same. Well, more the same than wooden
clarinets.
>Objective reasons to buy plastic are: no cracking, cheap.
>
>By the way, what do you mean with 'the perfect clarinet'? :)
>
>
>Luuk van Buul
>
>
>--
>===========================================================================
=====
>L.J.M. van Buul
vanbuul@-----.com
>Philips Research Waalre Philips
Optoelectronics
>Prof.Holstlaan 4
>5656 AA Eindhoven Tel. +31 40
2744649
>The Netherlands Fax. +31 40
2744335
>===========================================================================
=====
>
>
David C. Blumberg
reedman@-----.com
Principal Clarinet Riverside Symphonia
Adjunct Woodwind Instructor Univ. of Penn,. Bryn Mawr College