Klarinet Archive - Posting 000338.txt from 1997/09

From: Roger Garrett <rgarrett@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: ending the GreenLine plastic/composite thread
Date: Sun, 7 Sep 1997 20:38:06 -0400

Well...here I go again......

I guess I feel I may be overy my head a bit in my posting regarding
research having to do with measurement of sound, materials, etc. As I
wrote, I realized that I was not trying to argue so much for the sound
that gets to the listener as much as the way it feels when I blow through
it. In that regard, I still hold a belief that a composite plastic such
as the Greenline is probably closer to the feel of other top of the line
wood clarinets than non-composite plasitcs. Jonathan Cohler made some
good observations regarding holes in my arguement....that being I have not
compared similarly designed clarinets...regardless of material. He is
absolutely correct....problem is...while I have tried literally every
clarinet on the market today (I think....don't attack me for this one!), I
really don't know all of the dimensions on the inside, nor do I know the
undercutting dimensions/measurements/bore sizes, etc. So....I will just
have to plead guilty to only having my experience of having played on most
plastics and woods as having affected my opinion regarding such.

However....one last question to the listserv that will most likely get me
in even MORE trouble: IF the research is good...and IF the sound is not
noticeably different, WHY have all clarinet manufacturers continued to
sell wood clarinets as their top of the line instruments? Why do people
continue to accept them as such? If Buffet agreed with the research,
wouldn't they make an R-13 or Prestige R-13 out of NON-composite plastic?
Why all the hype about grenadilia wood and a composite plastic? That must
have cost a heck of a lot of money to come up with that...when they were
already set up to just make clarinets out of plastic! Wouldn't it be
less expensive than wood? If so, the profit margin could be much
greater...therefore...what are they waiting for? Is it possible that
clarinet makers are worried that plastic would not be accepted by
professionals? But we are already accepting the Greenline....why wouldn't
we accept the non-composite plastic?

Ok....now...here we go!

Roger Garrett