Klarinet Archive - Posting 000287.txt from 1997/09

From: Roger Garrett <rgarrett@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: plastic vs wood
Date: Sat, 6 Sep 1997 21:34:07 -0400

Often, the sound is not as apparent as the way the horn feels when you
blow through it. I like to play on a horn that does not require me to
work as hard.....none of the plastics have ever equaled my wooden Buffet.
I have tried many that are wonderful plastics......Yamaha bottom of the
line is wonderful...along with the mouthpieces that go with them, the
older Bundys are quite good. Bud Herseth, trumpeter in the Chicago
Symphony, has advertised for a company....I can't remember which, and
actually played concerts on student grade horns. He does not do that
regularly, but, for the sake of the promo, he can convince anyone that a
horn can sound as good as another. It just doesn't feel as good.

Roger Garrett

On Sat, 6 Sep 1997, Gary Hopkins wrote:

> All this talk about plastic vs wood in clarinet and oboe reminds me of an
> album I heard several years ago. A professional clarinettist (also a college
> professor of clarinet) recorded several pieces for clarinet. Half were done
> on a Selmer Series 9 or 9* clarinet and the other half were done on a
> resonite Bundy clarinet. On the recording there was no difference in sound
> as far as I or my clarinet teacher could tell. In years past I've been
> involved in sound comparisons between Selmer, Leblanc and Buffet clarinets
> for local band directors. I've played the same pieces, usually All-State
> tryout material, on each of the instruments trying to help the directors
> know which instruments to recommend to their students. Seldom are they able
> to actually tell any difference in sound. I think I can tell, but I may be
> prejudiced toward Buffet.
>
> Have any of you done the same thing? Can you tell the difference?
>
>