Klarinet Archive - Posting 001256.txt from 1998/07

From: Dirk Kussin <dirk@-----.de>
Subj: [kl] Inserted vs integral tone holes
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1998 07:46:16 -0400

Hello!

Thank you to Mr Kloc for the quick respond to my questions and to the
other people answering my problems with the pads (which has been fixed
by a repairsman).

Now I'm interested in the pros and cons of inserted (inset?) and
integral tone holes. I thought that integral tone holes are better
than inserted (at least from a esthetical point of view). I was
influenced by the (marketing) statements in the Leblanc catalogue/home
page

"All Leblanc wood clarinets, both mid-line student and professional
models have integral tone holes. This means that the raised tone holes
are actually part of the clarinet body. Other manufacturers turn
the wood bodies into cylinders and then use plastic inserts for
their raised tone holes for all wood models except their top
professional models.

While integral tone holes are more difficult to manufacture, we at
Leblanc are sure that both the tone and construction of the clarinet
are superior when this is done."

Also, the Buffet Prestige instruments have integral tone holes (what
about the ordinary R-13's, RC's?), and also the top line Yamaha Boehm
clarinets (what about Selmer?).

But, the most expensive Buffet clarinet, the Elite, has inserted tone
holes ("Advantage: Helps tone holes retain shape." (from the Buffet
home page)) Furthermore, in the book "Clarinet Acoustics" by Gibson I
find the sentence which reads like "the inserted tone holes of the
german clarinets far outlast the integral tone holes of the french
clarinets" or similar. Does this mean that inserted tone holes have a
much longer lifespan? And how long is the "expected lifespan" of an
integral tone hole? Any opinions?

Greetings
Dirk

--
Dirk Kussin dirk@-----.de
Fachbereich 17 Mathematik Raum D2.323
Universität-GH Paderborn Tel. (+49) (5251) 60-2636
D-33095 Paderborn --------- http://www-math.uni-paderborn.de/~dirk/

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