Klarinet Archive - Posting 001174.txt from 1998/01

From: Roger Garrett <rgarrett@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: Eb dilema
Date: Wed, 28 Jan 1998 04:08:33 -0500

On Tue, 27 Jan 1998, David B. Niethamer wrote:
> My very brief $0.02 is that brand does not matter (within reason). The Eb
> is enough of a different animal that "matching" it to the same brand as
> your Bb is probably not worth the effort.
>
> I'd look for an Eb that had excellent intonation, and get a good mpc to
> go with it. I have a Hite that I love, and my section colleague (who
> actually plays Eb when called for in the orchestra) has one as well.

I'm not trying to start another thread, or recreate an old one. But to
present the opposite viewpoint, in many cases it is important to match
the brands of clarinets. A Leblanc Eb plays much differently than a
Buffet - although I am making an assumption with regards to the Patricola
Eb. Intonation is important, but so is key style, resistance in the
instrument (again.....taper of the bore is different with each brand,
therefore a significant consideration), and (uh oh) sound/tone. There are
sufficient numbers of people on the list that do agree that brand
clarinets carry a trademark or telling tone quality to warrant tyring
different brands and deciding for yourself if you want to match brands or
not.

David is correct in saying that intonation is the most essential thing to
look for when selecting an Eb clarinet......whether it is a matching brand
or not. I just would not dismiss the matching brand issue so quickly.

roger Garrett