Klarinet Archive - Posting 000019.txt from 1998/03

From: Fred Jacobowitz <fredj@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: clarinet materials
Date: Sun, 1 Mar 1998 16:30:33 -0500

I remember in the 70's that an oboist acquaintance had a plastic
professional Loree. It never cracked and it tuned and responded (she said)
every bit as well as a wooden one. However, all who heard it agreed that
it had a brighter, less mellow tone than a wooden Loree.
While this is certainly only one case, it points out to me that
material IS indeed important to the tone of an instrument - not just the
internal specs. I guess it is possible that the density of plastic makes
it necessary to adjust the internal specs so that they differ from those
of a wooden oboe, and that Loree just hadn't done so - using the same
specs from its wooden oboes.
So I'm still willing to be convinced, if someone can design
an instrument made of plastic which has rich tone of a wooden clarinet.

Fred Jacobowitz
Clarinet/Sax Instructor, Peabody Preparatory