Klarinet Archive - Posting 000181.txt from 1998/07

From: Bill Hausmann <bhausman@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] reeds
Date: Tue, 7 Jul 1998 23:21:37 -0400

At 09:22 AM 7/7/98 -0400, Ken Wolman wrote:
>In one of my earlier incarnations, 10 years ago, as a semiprofessional
>photographer, I used to run into this kind of equipmentology also. Not
>just "Mine's bigger than yours," but "Mine is great and yours sucks." If
>you wanted to Be In Uniform, you had to show up with Nikons even if you
>couldn't quite afford them; Canons might also do, but then there wasn't
>much else that didn't get you pinned as an amateur. Minolta? For your
>vacation in Puerto Rico! Pentax? For your niece's wedding! But at the
>same time, showing up with REALLY expensive cameras like Leicas marked you
>as an unpleasant showoff and people were likely to whisper the word
>"Pendejo!" behind your back.
>
>So now that I've gotten back into music in the last six or seven months,
>I'm discovering the same kind of equipmentological manias (how's that for
>an over the top phrase?:-)....
>
AMEN!!!!!!!!!! Nikon @-----. Leica = Buffet
Prestige, Vintage, etc., or anything even more esoteric like SML. Pentax =
Selmer. (I used to do some photography myself, and your observations are
right on, and applicable.)

>I think I freaked out a salesman at Sam Ash when I went into a practice
>room to try out a LeBlanc Concerto, played for about 20 minutes, came out
>and said "It's real fine but I don't hear anything in it that makes it
>better than my Centered Tone." He looked at me like I'd missed Marshall
>Applewhite's group being picked up by the mother ship. Yet they have
>Selmer Recital clarinets on display, brand new, and probably have 10Gs and
>Signatures in the back room.
>
We just got a Selmer Signature in the store the other day, so I swiped it
to try it out and compare to my Series 10. Definitely plays in the Selmer
style, with exceptionally nice intonation in the throat. Nice ax! But I
can't handle the auxiliary Eb lever. With my long fingers I almost
invariably hit it when I am going for the B or C#. Fortunately, it is
removeable. The filler piece is thoughtfully provided. Neat case, too.
All leather french-style, suede leather interior instead of just plush.
But for $4600 list, you expect such touches.

>If I buy another clarinet at at the end of the year, it will probably be
>another high-end Selmer in A rather than a middle-end LeBlanc or Buffet
>just for the name. Why? This brings me back to another photographer, a
>guy named Djon Mili, who said "The equipment you know is the equipment you
>like." Ta-da. I know Selmer, I like Selmer. Which doesn't mean I'm not
>curious about trying out comparable horns from Buffet or LeBlanc or Yamaha
>or Howarth or Eaton, etc., etc. It just means that I'm not going to say
>"Selmer is great, everything else sucks." It just means I like what I
>knowm, and for all I know I might discover that I play better on one of the
>others.
>
Amen, again! The last time I tried an R-13 I found it to be very nice, and
noticeably DIFFERENT from my Selmer, but not necessarily better. Just
different.

>Reeds are a lot cheaper to try than intruments. But if you get what you
>want out of a Rico, then what is the big deal, and why attack someone's
>choice if that is what he or she prefers?
>
>(So what does Drucker play??:-)
>
>Ken
>
>Kenneth Wolman Information Technology Morgan Stanley Inc.
>750 Seventh Avenue New York, NY 212-762-1685
> My unpaid life: http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Gallery/1649
> "I only wish I could write with both hands, so as not to forget
> one thing while I am saying another." -- St. Teresa of Avila
>
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>
>

Bill Hausmann bhausman@-----.com
451 Old Orchard Drive http://www.concentric.net/~bhausman
Essexville, MI 48732 http://members.wbs.net/homepages/z/o/o/zoot14.html
ICQ UIN 4862265

If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the band is too loud.

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